Former NBA player pleads not guilty to human trafficking

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — A grand jury has brought charges in a sex trafficking case against former NBA player and former University of Alabama basketball player Jim Farmer, who was caught in an undercover operation by law enforcement last October.

Farmer, 55, of Franklin, Tennessee, was re-arrested after being indicted by the Rutherford County grand jury with attempted trafficking for sexual servitude, attempted solicitation of a minor and attempted condescension towards a prostitute, media reported. He was released the same day, January 10, on $100,000 bail.

Farmer will plead not guilty to the new charges at his next court appearance, his attorneys Worrick Robinson and Will Fraley said in a joint statement, the Daily News Journal reported. His lawyers questioned why his case was presented to the grand jury after a judge dropped his original charges for lack of probable cause.

According to an affidavit from the first arrest, Farmer responded to an advertisement for an adult escort to meet a minor for sexual purposes, by contacting an undercover officer who identified herself as a 16-year-old girl. Farmer allegedly agreed to pay $170 to have sex with the girl and was arrested after arriving at the agreed location on October 25.

Farmer was one of Alabama's top scorers before being selected in the first round of the 1987 NBA draft. He spent six seasons in the league, then worked as a country singer and model.