The New England Patriots could potentially have to pay out up to $6 million from deceased former tight end Aaron Hernandez’s contract, per TMZ Sports. This is according to a Massachusetts’ “abatement” law that would erase a conviction if it is found that the person died before all forms of appeals have been attempted.
If this winds up being the case, the family lawyer for Odin Lloyd plans on fighting for the money. Hernandez was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for killing Lloyd in 2013.
The Lloyd family lawyer, Douglas Sheff, also offered up a “very friendly challenge” to New England that both parties will work towards paying Hernandez’s contract money to the victims’ families involved in Hernandez’s double-murder trial case. Hernandez was found not guilty of both murders just less than one week before he committed suicide.
Should Hernandez’s death qualify under that abatement law, it appears the Lloyd family will do everything in its power to not see that $6 million go to Hernandez’s estate.
There will definitely be more come out regarding this story in the not-so-distant future.