Former Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks defensive tackle Junior Siavii was found dead in federal prison as he awaited trail on gun and drug trafficking chargers in Kansas.
Siavii was reportedly at the U.S. Leavenworth Penitentiary awaiting trial when he was found unresponsive on Thursday. He was taken to a local hospital, where he was eventually pronounced dead. The prison has not released any details regarding the situation. All that they would say is Siavii had not experienced any issues with any inmates or prison staff upon his arrival at this penitentiary on December 17.
The 43-year-old former Oregon Duck was a second round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs back in 2004. A knee injury forced him to step away from the game for a few years, but he eventually made his way back into the NFL in 2008, playing for the Cowboys for a couple of seasons before joining Seattle in 2010.
Siavii was arrested in August 2019, when he was found with a handgun, marijuana, meth, ammunition and other drug paraphernalia in a Kansas City suburb. The 6’5″ defensive lineman was seen exiting a stolen car and apparently led police on a high speed chase before being captured while trying to flee on foot. He had to be tasered twice by arresting officers according to the report, and was facing three federal counts of being an unlawful drug user in possession of firearms.
He was also being charged for his involvement in a meth drug ring, alongside eight others.
