Man sees debt to Patriots' Brady for stolen planters repaid by stranger

Associated Press

BOSTON -- A convicted bank robber who says he had to panhandle to repay a debt to New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has had his debt erased by a local businessman.

Paiva was ordered by a court to pay $4,000 after selling Brady's expensive flower boxes for scrap metal, mistakenly believing they'd been put behind Brady's Boston condominium as trash in May 2008.

Dan Greenwald, the owner of a Burlington ad agency, said he decided to pay the restitution after reading about Paiva's plight in the Boston Herald on Friday.

Greenwald said it seemed as if Paiva, who says he can't work because of recent surgery, got "the rawest of raw deals."

The 61-year-old Paiva said Greenwald's gift was like "a dream come true."

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press