Real Housewives of Atlanta alum NeNe Leakes’ oldest son, Bryson Bryant, “cannot be found” has been MIA with his probation officer for months, In Touch can exclusively report.
According to court documents obtained by In Touch, the probation officer who Bryson, 34, was supposed to report to filed an affidavit as part of Bryson’s criminal case.
In the affidavit, the probation officer said Bryson failed to report on at least two occasions. He listed the dates as August 14 and September 30. He said that he tried to call his cell phone, but Bryson didn’t pick up.
In addition, the probation officer said he checked the local jail rosters and determined that Bryson was not incarcerated.
A letter was mailed to Bryson’s last known address informing him that he needed to check in.
in the motion, filed on October 3, the probation officer said he still has not heard from Bryson. No updates have been filed since the affidavit was entered.
As In Touch first reported, Bryson reached a plea deal in May in his criminal case over fentanyl possession and giving a false name to police officers. Per the agreement, prosecutors dismissed the Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance.
Bryson agreed to plead guilty to a 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.
The court ordered Bryson to complete 40 hours of community service, submit to random drug tests, and undergo an evaluation and/or treatment for substance abuse. Bryson was ordered to not consume alcoholic beverages and not use narcotics or dangerous drugs.
As In Touch previously reported, Bryson was arrested on July 3, 2023, in Georgia.
According to the police report, officers encountered Bryson in a neighborhood around 1 a.m. Bryson told police that his name was Brentt Leakes, who is NeNe’s other son and Bryson’s younger brother.
In Touch obtained exclusive bodycam footage of Bryson’s arrest. During questioning, he told officers that he didn’t know the substance he had was Fentanyl.
He offered to take the officers to the dealer’s location if it helped lessen the trouble for him. Bryson was held behind bars 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.
He pleaded not guilty to all charges before reaching the plea deal.
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.”
After the probation officer submitted his affidavit accusing Bryson of missing check-ins, the judge signed off on the P.O.’s request to “toll” Bryson’s sentence.
The decision means that Bryson’s probation will be paused until he checks in with his probation officer or is taken in by a police officer. NeNe, 56, spoke out about her son’s troubles after his arrest.
“He needs a lot of counseling. Like many families out there, I have family members that are struggling with drugs and certain addictions. He has an addiction,” NeNe said. “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 added.
“But every time I’ve sent him off is because I said, ‘You are getting your ass up, and we are sending you off.’ But I learned through counseling myself that he has to say, ‘I’m ready to go,’ not me making him go. So until Bryson is ready to make a change, it’s nothing I [can] do,” she added.
