Shaquille O'Neal Is Suing Cannabis Company Over Failed Partnership, Seeks Over $1M In Damages

One of the greatest basketball players of all time, Shaquille O'Neal, or "Shaq" as most of us know him, is suing the legal cannabis company Viceroy LLC, for more than $1 million.

The former pro basketball player, a sports analyst on “Inside the NBA” and his fellow plaintiff, Jerome Crawford, say they invested $150, 000 in a new cannabis company some five years ago. Out of that total, O’Neal provided $100,000 and Crawford put up the remaining $50,000.

According to the suit, the plaintiffs were under the impression that around December 2015, Daron Campbell, “acting through his entity Capital LLC, founded Viceroy to pursue opportunities in the field of legal cannabis.” However, the company had no license, no revenue and no operations even by late 2017, according to the lawsuit.

“Questions arose regarding defendants’ management of Viceroy and use of the invested funds. On November 3, 2017, plaintiff's lawyer wrote to Campbell, requesting among other things: A narrative of your current business plan with a time schedule; current tax returns; current financial statement, cash receipts and disbursements for the entity since inception, copies of all 2017 bank statements and canceled checks”.

The defendants never responded to the request, nor have they offered any documents or data.

Damages In Excess Of $1 Million 

Then, in July 2018, after the plaintiff’s lawyer threatened litigation, Campbell  of the Viceroy cannabis company proposed the following offer:

 “At this point, I am willing to agree to personally purchase the units [owned by plaintiffs] over a period of time. If acceptable, I would pay Mr. Crawford and Mr. O’Neal on the first day of each quarter, a minimum of $10,000 until paid in full.”

Both O’Neal and Crawford agreed to the proposed deal verbally, and Campbell delivered a check for $10,000 to each plaintiff in November 2018.

And that was all. After the initial payment, Campbell stopped. The last installment would have been due and owing on Jan. 1, 2021.

This means that the remaining sum amounts to $130,000 plus 10% interest from the time each installment was due.

According to the complaint, O’Neal and Crawford are seeking damages above $1 million.

Photo: Courtesy of MarkScottAustinTX  via Wikimedia Commons