The man who is owed $12 million by Deion Sanders’ son Shilo has filed a 53-page closing argument against him that asks a bankruptcy judge to not let Sanders get off the hook for that debt and to instead enter a federal judgment against him to keep him on the hook for life.
It says Sanders’ testimony at his recent bankruptcy trial is “not credible” compared to the vast evidence against him.
“The evidence is not close,” said the court filing from John Darjean, Sanders' $12 million creditor.
The filing was submitted Nov. 9 in the same bankruptcy court where Shilo Sanders filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 2023. By filing for bankruptcy, Sanders hoped to erase the debt he owes Darjean, a former security guard at Sanders’ school in Dallas.
But
Darjean wants to collect every nickel and is fighting Sanders’ attempt to discharge it. This led to a trial in Denver from Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, where Judge Michael E. Romero asked for written closing arguments from each side afterward before he renders a verdict.
“The record of what happened is credible and unrebutted,” said the new brief field by Darjean’s attorney, Ori Raphael. The brief also states it “is corroborated from every direction.”
By contrast, Darjean’s brief argues that “Sanders’ own testimony is not credible.”
Sanders, a former Colorado football player, is the middle son of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders.
Closing brief against Shilo Sanders seeks federal judgment
The brief asks the court to find that Shilo Sanders “willfully and maliciously injured Plaintiff John Darjean” and to enter a judgment declaring that the debt owed by Sanders to Darjean, plus interest, is “excepted from discharge,” meaning Sanders can’t get out of it.
Darjean "further asks that the Court enter its own judgment for that amount … so that the non-dischargeable debt is reduced to a federal judgment that may be registered and enforced in any district,” the brief states.
The debt stems from an incident at Sanders’ school in Dallas in 2015, when Shilo Sanders was 15. Darjean accused Sanders of permanently injuring him when Darjean tried to confiscate Sanders’ phone pursuant to school policy. Darjean said Sanders elbowed him in the neck area and punched him, leading to nerve damage and incontinence.
Darjean then sued Sanders in 2016, but when the case finally went to trial in 2022, Sanders didn’t show up for it and an $11.89 million default judgment was entered against him.
After Darjean moved to collect on that debt, Sanders filed for bankruptcy in an attempt to effectively remove it. In response, Darjean fought back, arguing Sanders is not entitled to discharge this debt because it stems from a “willful and malicious” injury – a specific exception to discharges in bankruptcy court.
What's at stake after the Shilo Sanders trial?
At the trial, the judge heard evidence about the incident and could issue a verdict after all final written arguments are filed by Dec. 21. If he rules in favor of Darjean, Sanders will remain on the hook for that $12 million debt.
If the judge rules in favor of Shilo Sanders, Shilo Sanders will get out of that debt except for what the bankruptcy trustee rounds up among Sanders’ non-exempt assets – likely pennies on the dollar of that $12 million judgment. Sanders’ attorney said in November 2024 that Sanders had turned over $210,000 to the bankruptcy estate – 1.8% of the judgment.
Closing brief cites evidence disparity against Shilo Sanders
Sanders said at the trial that Darjean attacked him, not the other way around. However, only Darjean went to the hospital that day by ambulance.
“Sanders identified no unlawful force to defend against, was not injured, and in ten years never told anyone that he used force against Darjean out of fear of Darjean until he said so from the witness stand,” Darjean’s brief stated Nov. 9.
Darjean’s attorney noted several witnesses at trial supported Darjean’s account of what happened, in addition to the school’s written findings, medical records and a police report that listed Sanders as the suspect in an aggravated assault.
By contrast, the brief notes Sanders called two defense witnesses who “saw no blows” and changed their stories from what they previously said soon after the incident.
“Sanders announced that he would strike anyone who took his phone, prepared to do it, and did it: an elbow driven into the throat of the one adult supervising him, two closed-fist punches to his face, and a shove,” the brief states. “He testified that the force he used was intentional and that he would use it again, and under Texas law his plea of justification forecloses any claim that he acted recklessly. The injury was willful.”
Sanders’ attorney is due to respond Dec. 10, followed by a reply from Darjean by Dec. 21.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschroten@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shilo Sanders' $12-million creditor files closing brief in bankruptcy case
