Shilo Sanders is heading back to court with millions on the line, but before his bankruptcy trial even begins, the former Colorado safety is trying to block jurors from hearing about disciplinary problems from his past. Sanders, who filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2023 after being hit with an $11.89 million judgment, now wants the court to exclude records tied to unrelated incidents from his teenage years.
The legal battle goes back to a 2015 altercation at Sanders’ Dallas-area school involving former security guard John Darjean. Darjean claimed Sanders seriously injured him during a confrontation over a confiscated phone and later sued him and his parents in 2016. While Deion Sanders and Shilo’s mother were eventually removed from the lawsuit, Shilo was left facing the case alone.
Things got dramatically worse in 2022 when Sanders failed to appear for trial in Texas, leading to a default judgment against him worth nearly $12 million. After Darjean attempted to collect the money, Sanders filed for bankruptcy protection in October 2023, a move that immediately paused collection efforts while he attempted to have the debt erased in court.
Now the case has shifted into a new phase. Under federal bankruptcy law, debts connected to “willful and malicious” injuries usually cannot be discharged. Sanders has consistently maintained that he acted in self-defense during the incident, while Darjean argues the debt should remain enforceable.
Ahead of the August 31 trial, Sanders’ attorneys are asking the judge to prevent jurors from hearing evidence related to his “Prior and Subsequent Disciplinary History” and his reported time at The Letot Juvenile Detention Facility in Dallas. His legal team argues those incidents are unrelated and could unfairly prejudice the jury.
The bankruptcy case has already expanded beyond the original judgment. A court-appointed trustee has separately accused Sanders of improperly transferring roughly $250,000 in NIL earnings through companies tied to him, including Big 21 and Headache Gang. Earlier this year, a federal judge allowed those claims to move forward, adding another layer to an already messy legal situation that continues to follow Sanders long after his football career stalled.
