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BEIJING – Former US footballer Wendell Brown on Wednesday found his warm welcome in Detroit, more than a year after being sentenced to four years in prison in China for involvement in a bar fight.
Brown, a Detroit native who was playing for Ball State University in Indiana, was arrested in September 2016 for intentional assault and sentenced in June 2018. His lawyer, Wu Junmei, confirmed Wednesday at NBC News that Brown had been released and left China. on an evening flight from Chongqing.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart, sincerely, thank you for all your love, your support, your prayers, your positive energy, everything," said Brown, wearing a sweatshirt with the word "Blessed" on his chest in a published video on Twitter. "I'm going home."
A Chinese court reduced his sentence from four years to three in November and set his release to Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. The court did not issue an official statement on the decision at the time.
The Chinese authorities did not immediately respond to NBC News's requests for comment.
Brown 's friend, Quentin Sterling, an American businessman based in Chongqing, China, posted the video from a Chinese airport. Sterling told NBC News that he was eager to see his friend released and gave him a big hug when they were briefly reunited before the flight.
"He never complained to me about his stay in prison, he had a lot of gratitude and positivity and he did not say that he would never want to come back to China," he said. Sterling. He added that Brown's family was planning a surprise welcome party for his arrival in Los Angeles.
Brown played the linebacker for Ball State between 2004 and 2008 and then played in the Canadian Football League before moving to China to become a coach.
He was involved in an altercation at a disco on September 24, 2016, after someone dumped him a bottle, his supporters said. A local man then accused Brown of having seriously injured his eye, which had to be removed.
Brown denied hitting a man in a bar and said he had raised his arms in self-defense after being attacked.
Junmei did not provide details on Brown's release. At the time of his arrest, those who pleaded for Brown told NBC News that China sometimes expels foreigners after their conviction.
Sterling said the police had escorted Brown to an airport directly from the prison before handing him over to members of the US consulate and their friends who came to see him.
Dawn Liu has been reported in Beijing and Linda Givetash in London.
Associated press contributed.
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