Bengals' Brooks Jailed

September 21, 1999 / 4:07 PM EDT / CBS/AP

A judge on Tuesday jailed former Cincinnati Bengals running back James Brooks to force the retired player to pay $107,705 in back child support.

Brooks, 40, arrested on Sept. 2 in Georgia, was brought into court in handcuffs, pleaded innocent to three counts of felony non-support, and was returned to jail by Judge Steven Martin.

Hamilton County prosecutors said Brooks, whose annual salary was $1 million at the height of his pro football career, owes $78,535.55 for a 6-year-old son and $29,169.88 for a 4-year-old daughter. He owes the money to two women who gave birth to three of his children, prosecutors said.

Unless he pays the money, Brooks will remain behind bars until his case is resolved or his sentence if he is convicted is completed, the judge said. If convicted, Brooks could get six to 12 months in jail for each case.

A pretrial hearing was set for Oct. 5.

He was arrested at Hartsfield-Atlanta International Airport upon arrival from England, where he had been living and working for a football team that folded. He later worked as a security guard in that country, prosecutors said.

He waived extradition and was returned to Ohio on Sunday.

He starred at Auburn before playing 11 seasons in the NFL. He played three seasons for the San Diego Chargers and eight with the Bengals.

He holds Cincinnati's career rushing record with 6,447 yards.