Real Housewives of Atlanta alum NeNe Leakes’ oldest son, Bryson Bryant, had his probation put on pause due to him not checking in with his probation officer — and now his other legal troubles are being exposed.
In Touch obtained a transcript from Bryson’s sentencing on May 15. The transcript was filed days after his probation officer claimed he cannot find Bryson, 34.
Bryson was ordered to serve 12 months’ probation for giving a false name to officers during questioning in July 2023. In the transcript, the prosecutors revealed that Bryson had a little bit of a criminal history.
They noted he had a 2010 misdemeanor marijuana [case] “where conditional discharge was used;” a 2011 misdemeanor shoplifting [case] and a 2023 misdemeanor shoplifting “that at the time that this file was prepared, it was still pending.”
The prosecutor said, “I don’t know if anything’s changed. That was out of Suwanee Police Department.”
The court docket does not show any charges being filed against Bryson in 2023 for shoplifting. The incident was previously unknown.
As In Touch first reported, in the probation officer’s recent petition, he claimed that Bryson had failed to report on two separate occasions, the last being on September 30. He said his calls to Bryson’s cell phone were not returned.
The judge ordered Bryson’s probation to be “tolled,” which means it is essentially put on pause until he checks in with his probation officer or the court.
As In Touch first reported, the criminal case was brought over Bryson’s arrest on July 3, 2023. Officers found a substance they believed to be Fentanyl in Bryson’s car. In addition, he told officers that his name was Brentt Leakes, who is NeNe’s younger son. Bryson was charged with giving a false name to officers and possession of a controlled substance. Bryson was locked up until October 2023 due to the arrest triggering a probation violation in a separate case. NeNe’s son was officially hit with charges over the July 2023 arrest in January.
Bryson plead not guilty to all charges before he reached a plea deal. At his sentencing, Bryson reached a deal with prosecutors where they agreed to drop the possession charge.
Per the deal, Bryson plead guilty to misdemeanor charge of Giving False Information to a Law Enforcement Officer.
The court sentenced Bryson to 12 months’ probation and ordered him to pay a $500 fine. In addition, Bryson was ordered to complete 40 hours of community service, submit to random drug tests, and undergo an evaluation and/or treatment for substance abuse.
The judge instructed Bryson to not drink or use any drugs.
Bryson’s attorney, Dominko C. Rumph, previously told In Touch, “Mr. Bryant’s criminal case was resolved in May of 2024 via a misdemeanor guilty plea to Giving a False Name.”
He continued, “After reviewing the evidence presented by the State during discovery, it was determined that police likely did not have reasonable articulable suspicion to conduct the traffic stop that is shown in the body camera footage.”
NeNe, 56, spoke out about her son’s troubles after his arrest. “He needs a lot of counseling,” she said.
The reality star continued, “Like many families out there, I have family members that are struggling with drugs and certain addictions. He has an addiction.”
NeNe added, “He’s been in rehab for a couple of times and he still has come back out and relapsed.”
“I’ve spent so much money on trying to get Bryson where he needs to be,” she said.
