Messi's brother under house arrest over gun possession

Matias Messi, older brother of Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel, has been sentenced to house arrest in Argentina for possession of a weapon, a prosecutor said Monday. Messi, 35, was to be discharged from hospital later Monday and transferred to his home in Rosario, 300km north of the capital Buenos Aires, head of the prosecutor's office for Cybercrimes and Weapons Lucas Altare said.

It's the second time that #LionelMessi's brother has been arrested for possession of a firearmhttps://t.co/qDxahigYku

— FirstpostSports (@FirstpostSports) December 12, 2017

He was taken to hospital with facial injuries after being found in a drifting and blood-stained motorboat on November 30, apparently after colliding with a sandbank. He was arrested for possession of a firearm found in the boat. It's the second time that the star's brother has been arrested for possession of a firearm. The offense carries a jail sentence of between three- and-a-half and eight years.

Lionel Messi’s brother Matias under house arrest over gun possession - https://t.co/gBdOsXzgwd pic.twitter.com/IXHtOlCQQG

— The Field (@thefield_in) December 12, 2017

"The guarantor of this house detention agreement is his father, Jorge Messi," said Altare, the prosecutor. Family lawyer Ignacio Carbone told reporters that the defendant "is a good person, he's not going to go on the run."