According to multiple sources, a Cuyahoga County judge has ruled that former four division world champion Adrien Broner must pay a woman nearly $830,000 in connection with a 2018 assault at a Cleveland nightclub.
In what a civil lawsuit for damages, Common Pleas Court Judge Nancy Margaret Russo awarded the woman $500,000 in punitive damages and $250,000 in compensatory damages. Broner also was ordered to pay lawyers fees and other costs, bringing the total to nearly $830,000, according to the ruling.
The Chandra Law Firm, which represented the plaintiff, said Broner did not contest the lawsuit, resulting in the court entering a default judgment.
Broner did not appear at Tuesday’s hearing on damages.
“One would hope this judgment will teach Adrien Broner to keep his hands to himself," said the woman’s lawyer, Ashlie Case Sletvold, in a statement released by the firm.
Broner, 30, was arrested and charged with gross sexual imposition, a fourth-degree felony, misdemeanor sexual imposition and abduction, a third-degree felony, in connection with a June 2018 incident at the club in Cleveland’s Warehouse District neighborhood.
Broner was placed on probation in April after he pleaded guilty to assault and unlawful restraint, both misdemeanor charges.
The victim told Cleveland police that she went to the Park Social Club after Game 4 of the 2018 NBA Finals.
While she sat in the VIP section, the woman and her friend told police that Broner came "out of nowhere," laid on top of her and started forcibly kissing her. Once Broner got off of her, the women left the club and filed a police report.
Broner’s lawyer, Ian Friedman, initially denied the allegations, but said after the plea deal that Broner wanted to put the incident behind him.
Broner last fought in January 2019, losing in a unanimous decision to Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.