Photo: NFL via Getty
Junior Siavii, a formerNFLplayer, has died in a Kansas prison as he awaited trial for federal gun and drug trafficking charges. He was 43.
On Thursday afternoon, around 2:30 p.m. local time, Siavii — aka Saousoalii Siavii — was found unresponsive in the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Anna Armijo, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, toldThe Kansas City Star.
No other details surrounding the ex-football star’s death were immediately made available. Armijo noted that staff and other inmates were not injured and “at no time was the public in danger.”
A representative for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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Back in August 2019, Siavii was arrested on suspicion of illegal firearms possession during an altercation that occurred with police in Kansas, according toNBC Sports.
Not long after, a criminal indictment later named Siavii as being part of a methamphetamine drug trafficking conspiracy in Missouri. Siavii was charged alongside eight other co-defendants, the outlet said.
Siavii was transferred to the U.S. Penitentiary at Leavenworth, a medium-security prison, on Dec. 17,The Kansas City Starreported.
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Siavii later went on to play for the Dallas Cowboys in 2009, but was cut during preseason in 2010. He then played for the Seattle Seahawks before a spinal cord injury brought his football career to an end in 2011.
source: people.com
