RICHMOND, Va. - Imprisoned quarterback Michael Vick filed for bankruptcy protection while serving time for federal dogfighting charges, saying he owes between US$10 million and $50 million to creditors.
Vick filed Chapter 11 papers in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newport News on Monday. The seven largest creditors listed in the court papers are owed a total of about $12.8 million.
Vick is serving a 23-month prison sentence at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan., after pleading guilty last year to bankrolling a dogfighting ring. He was subsequently suspended indefinitely without pay and lost all his major sponsors, including Nike. He also faces state charges related to dogfighting.
The suspended Atlanta Falcons quarterback ``will seek to rebuild his life and career'' upon his release, according to the filings.
The debt includes part of a signing bonus that the Falcons are seeking to recover.
After the plea on dogfighting charges, the Falcons tried to recover about $20 million in bonuses Vick earned from 2004 to 2007. But a federal judge held that Vick is entitled to keep all but $3.75 million of the money paid to him for playing football through the 2014 season.
According to the filings, Vick's other debts include $4.5 million owed to Richmond-based Joel Enterprises Inc., and $550,0000 owed to Radtke Sports Inc. for breach of contract.
In May, a federal judge ordered Vick to repay about $2.5 million to the Royal Bank of Canada for defaulting on a loan. The bank had sued Vick in September, arguing his guilty plea to a federal dogfighting charge - and the resulting impact on his career - prevented him from repaying the loan.
A default judgment for $1.08 million also was entered in January against Vick and a business partner in a lawsuit brought by Wachovia Bank over a loan for an Atlanta-area wine shop and restaurant.
