DeAndre Baker's Lawyer Patrick Patel Denies Witness Cover-Up Payoff Allegations

Patrick Patel, the attorney for DeAndre Baker, denied any plot to pay witnesses to change their stories in order to cover up his client's alleged participation in an armed robbery in a radio interview Monday.

On WFAN's Moose & Maggie, Patel said Baker and Quinton Dunbar were victims of extortion by witnesses, and text messages were "orchestrated by [co-attorney Brad] Cohen and I to flush these extortionists out."

"Cohen and I reported to the FBI and to the detective what was going on; the detective triangulated Mr. Baker's phone to my house in Fort Lauderdale, where it was myself, Brad, and DeAndre texting [witness Dominic] Johnson, and the reason we did that was simple. If there's a hostage situation and they call you, you don't say, 'hang up the phone.' What do you say? 'Where are you, how much, give me proof of life, give me information.' The text messages going from Baker to Johnson were to solicit the information of the extortionists. We knew they were going to [Dunbar's attorney Michael] Grieco's office, because that's what was told to us, and we reported that. Never did Baker, nor his attorneys, pay the extortionists any money, and the reason we didn't is because we didn't need the affidavits.”

Baker and Dunbar were arrested in May after allegedly robbing a party at gunpoint over gambling debts. Witnesses later recanted their stories.

Pat Leonard of the New York Daily News obtained a copy of the search warrant last week that allegedly showed Johnson admitting to helping with a cover-up in a direct message conversation.

"I made them same n----s that said they got robbed come in and say them Boys ain't have nothing to Do with it," Johnson wrote. 

Johnson allegedly oversaw the payments from the offices of Dunbar's original attorneys.

Johnson, Baker and Dunbar have known each other since they were children.

The New York Giants have told Baker to remain away from the team while the case is ongoing. Dunbar changed attorneys after reports of the alleged payoff became public.