The NFL issued an indefinite suspension and a $500,000 fine to a minority owner of the Houston Texans on Thursday.
Javier Loya, a Texans' minority shareholder who became the first Hispanic owner in the NFL when the franchise was founded in 2002, faced a years-long investigation from the NFL after being accused of rape and sexual abuse at two parties in Kentucky in May 2022. The NFL cited a violation of the league's personal conduct policy as the reason for Loya's suspension. Loya accepted a misdemeanor charge of harassment with the intent to annoy in March 2024, and the seven sexual assault charges were dropped through an Alford Plea (where Loya maintains his innocence but acknowledges there was enough evidence for a plausible guilty verdict).