Laettner, Davis ordered to pay NFL linebacker $3.8 million

A federal judge in Maryland has ruled that former Duke basketball stars Christian Laettner and Brian Davis must pay NFL linebacker Shawne Merriman $3.765 million and give him ownership stakes in the duo's projects in Durham, Baltimore and Atlanta.

Merriman, who currently plays for the Buffalo Bills, has accused Laettner and Davis of failing to abide by terms of a $3 million loan and a settlement reached in federal court in 2009.

The latest judgment, filed Dec. 13 in the U.S. District Court in Maryland, gives Merriman a 10 percent membership interest in the West Village Condos Partnership in Durham, the West Village project in Atlanta, and a project in Baltimore.

Merriman's capital stake in the Durham and Atlanta projects will be $800,000 each. In Baltimore, it will be $1.4 million.

Davis and Laettner, along with Tom Niemann, led a $170 million effort in Durham to convert an abandoned tobacco factory into West Village: a mix of restaurants, offices and apartments.

Riding the success of that project, the three, operating as Blue Devil Ventures, embarked on a major expansion of West Village, including 366 apartments, and 234,000 square feet of offices, labs, restaurants and shops.

Niemann eventually split from Davis and Laettner, who formed their own entity called Blue Devil Partners.

While the second phase of West Village has been a success, Davis and Laettner eventually faced lawsuits from investors for failing to pay more than $6 million to friends and associates.

In November 2009, Laettner and Davis, to avoid foreclosure, handed back the Chesterfield Building in downtown Durham to their lender. The Chesterfield, the final phase of the West Village project, is now being redeveloped by Josh Parker, a former employee of Blue Devil Ventures.

In an interview last February, Laettner said he and Davis were working to settle all the suits against them.

Laettner and Davis did not immediately return calls seeking comment.