The older brother of city high-school hoops star and first-round NBA draft pick Sebastian Telfair has been cleared of attempted murder after the shooting victim recanted his story.
Sylvester Telfair, 23, was busted in February when a man accused him of shooting him in the face near the tough Surfside Gardens housing project in Coney Island.
Police sources described the shooting then as a feud between two rival marijuana dealers.
The victim, Ahmad Rennick, 35, first said the shooter wore a bandanna across his face. He later identified Telfair as the gunman, but finally recanted that story – promising to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if he was called to the witness stand.
“The witness changed his story. He now says that he cannot swear that [Sylvester] Telfair had anything to do with it, and his lawyer said that under oath he would take the Fifth,” Brooklyn DA spokesman Jerry Schmetterer said.
The witness also has identified another man – only by the nickname “Solo” – as his assailant, according to a law-enforcement source. Efforts to reach Rennick were unsuccessful.
Sylvester was in prison for eight months. But he was out last night, when his brother – a Lincoln HS star – began his pro career with the Portland Trail Blazers against the Golden State Warriors.
His lawyer, Barry Krinsky, said Telfair should never have been arrested.
Sylvester said he plans a civil suit against the city because of his imprisonment.