Judge rules against Shiloh Sanders in bankruptcy case
A judge has ruled against Deion Sanders’ son Shiloh Sanders in his bankruptcy case, allowing him to proceed with charges related to an alleged $250,000 fraudulent transfer.
- Deion Sanders’ son, Shiloh Sanders, owes former security guard John Darjan more than $11 million for a 2015 incident.
- D’Argent claims that the case could have been settled for a smaller amount a few years ago, but no settlement negotiations took place.
- Mr. Sanders filed for bankruptcy in 2023 to discharge his debts, and Mr. D’Argent is fighting the case in court.
The man, who owes Shiloh Sanders more than $11 million, said his case against Sanders could have been settled for a smaller amount 10 years ago, but there have been no settlement talks since then in preparation for the Aug. 31 trial.
Shiloh Sanders, the son of Colorado football coach Deion Sanders, filed for bankruptcy in October 2023 with more than $11 million in debt, almost all of which was owed to John Darjan, a former guard at Shiloh’s former Dallas school.
Darjean, 50, said in a recent interview with USA TODAY Sports that she would have been willing to settle the lawsuit if Deion Sanders had offered to cover some of the costs stemming from the 2015 incident with Shiloh. However, both sides pursued the case after TMZ released a video of the incident in 2016 and an accompanying article in which Deion Sanders called Dargent a “fraud.”
“I would have had something,” Durjan said of Deion Sanders. “I thought Dion was a guy who could say, ‘Hey, here’s $200,000. I know your son messed up your neck. You’re hurt.'”
But that never happened. Dargent is now demanding all the money he is owed, and Shiloh Sanders is also owed more than $11 million, with no sign of compromising despite a 10-year battle and mounting legal costs.
“Then after he slandered my name, I wanted $100 million because I was so angry,” Darjan said of Deion Sanders.
Why Shiloh Sanders owes John Darjan more than $11 million
D’Argent said that in 2015, when Shiloh was 15, Shiloh Sanders punched her in the neck and elbowed her when she tried to confiscate her phone at school. D’Argent said this severely aggravated a previous neck injury and left him with permanent injury and pain, including incontinence and a second surgery in May.
D’Argent sued Shiloh and his parents over the incident in June 2016. But by early 2019, Shiloh’s parents were dismissed from the case, leaving Shiloh as the only remaining defendant at age 19, when he left for his freshman year at the University of South Carolina.
A subsequent trial was held in Dallas in March 2022, but Shiloh Sanders did not appear at the trial. Mr. Dargent instead took the case to court and received an $11.89 million default judgment against Mr. Sanders.
Former Colorado football safety Shiloh Sanders is still in debt to D’Argent and is currently seeking forgiveness of the debt in bankruptcy court. His lawyers say he wants “a fresh start, freed from the burden of oppressive debt.”
D’Argent is fighting Shiloh’s attempt to discharge the debt, arguing that it cannot be discharged because it was caused by “deliberate and malicious injury.”
Why hasn’t this case against Shiloh Sanders been resolved after 10 years?
Both sides face significant risks in this summer’s trial, where a bankruptcy court will try to determine whether the debt was due to Mr. Sanders’ “intentional and malicious injury.” Sanders, now 26, disputes this and claims he acted in self-defense.
If d’Argent wins, Shiloh could be left with the debt and haunted until he repays it. If Shiloh wins, he could have his debt forgiven with relatively minimal damage to his bank account.
A compromise solution reduces risk for both parties. But D’Argent said no settlement talks have yet taken place with the Sanders family, which is often influenced by the position of his father, the longtime breadwinner.
D’Argent said the Sanders family “doesn’t want to reconcile” and criticized Deion Sanders as “arrogant.”
“He’ll cut off his own head before he loses,” Dargent said. “That’s the type of person he is.”
Legal experts are surprised that no settlement has been reached for so long.
“It’s unusual to see a lawsuit like this that could have been resolved privately and quietly years ago,” University of Texas law professor Mechelle Dickerson told USA TODAY Sports last October. “There would have been confidentiality, probably a non-disclosure agreement. He would have avoided the hassle and embarrassment that we’re seeing now.”
TMZ Video Elements About Deion Sanders
D’Argent continued to grill the Sanders family after TMZ released a video showing only part of the incident in June 2016. He accused Deion Sanders of leaking only part of the footage and arranging for the deletion of the part that incriminated his son. In a TMZ article accompanying the video, Deion Sanders called Darjan a “real-life con artist” who “used unnecessary force to protect his son’s cell phone.”
Darjan filed a lawsuit against the Sanders family four days after TMZ published the report in 2016.
“After he lied to me on TMZ, I wanted everything,” Darjan said.
Dargent said he has changed his mind and will not accept more than he can show in court.
A Texas judge awarded Darjan $11.89 million, including $3 million in compensation for future disability, $2 million in compensation for future medical expenses, and $2 million in compensation for future loss of earning capacity.
“I had to defend myself just like I would in a normal trial,” Dargent said.
D’Argent’s lawyers told a bankruptcy judge in 2024 that the 2022 trial in Dallas included six witnesses and 76 exhibits, including 58 from the Utica insurance company. Utica Insurance won a $215,000 judgment against Shiloh Sanders in the same case to recover workers’ compensation payments it paid on Dargent’s behalf.
What are John Darjan and Shiloh Sanders doing now?
According to court records, Dargent was taken to the hospital after the incident and immediately underwent spinal surgery. He is a minor league baseball outfielder for the New York Yankees and currently lives in the Dominican Republic, where he said he continues to battle pain and mobility issues.
Shiloh has pursued other professional interests, including acting, after being released by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last year. He is the third of Deion Sanders’ five children and the older brother of Shedule Sanders, who is currently the quarterback of the Cleveland Browns.
Shiloh Sanders’ attorney did not return messages seeking comment.
Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com
