By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times
As Lebron James prepares to celebrate his decision to sign with Miami Heat, a man claiming to be the NBA star's father has filed a paternity suit in Federal Court alleging a cover up, The National Law Journal reported.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW COPY OF COURT DOCUMENT
Leicester Bryce Stovell, a Washington, D.C. lawyer says he has believed he was James' father and even took a DNA test at one time in Cleveland. He alleges the test results were falsified and that James' mother, Gloria James and James' attorney have all led a campaign to prevent him from pursuing and resolving the issue.
In the complaint, which was first reported by TMZ.COM on Wednesday, Stovell claims that Gloria James threatened him and committed fraud and misrepresentation in an effort to conceal the identity of James' father. It also alleges that she and LeBron James have defamed Stovell's character, quoting LeBron James as having publicly said, "I want to be a better father than mine was."
In a 2002 interview with ESPN The Magazine, Gloria James claimed Lebron's father was a man she named as Anthony McClelland.
However, according to Stovell, a DNA test has eliminated McClelland as being Lebron's father.
The June 23 complaint goes on to say that during mid-March 1984 he met Lebron's mother at a bar in Washington, D.C., while she was visiting from Ohio. He goes on to say that while they were only intimate once, Gloria James became pregnant and told him months later that she was pregnant with a boy she planned to name LeBron, seemingly after "Leicester Bryce."
According to Lebron's Wikipedia page, his mother gave birth to him on December 30, 1984 at the age of 16. The page also says that Lebron James' father, Anthony McClelland, "was an ex-con who left Gloria to be a single mother."
"I recently have concluded that a comprehensive, sophisticated and well-funded effort might well have been underway for quite some time," said Stovell. " Perhaps beginning in its present form as early as when Defendant LeBron James was in high school, to frustrate identification of his real father, and that there is a likelihood that the father in question is me," Stovall said in his complaint, which seeks millions of dollars in damages.
Stovell, a former attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He filed suit against the SEC in 1999 alleging racial discrimination. The case was settled in 2002 when the SEC agreed to pay him $230,000 without admitting any fault, according to a report by The National Law Journal. Stovell now works primarily as a consultant on securities and financial regulatory issues.
Stovell said he considered other avenues prior to filing the suit, including researching the legal issues involved, and identifying potential witnesses. When asked about the explosive nature of his lawsuit and James' fame, Stovell replied, "Skepticism under circumstances like this is not an unusual response at all. I have prepared myself for a certain measure of skepticism, particularly if someone has not read the complaint."
But, he added, "I think it's possible to persuade a group of reasonable people that my position is completely appropriate under the circumstances." He said he expects to request a new paternity test as part of discovery.
The Black Urban Times
As Lebron James prepares to celebrate his decision to sign with Miami Heat, a man claiming to be the NBA star's father has filed a paternity suit in Federal Court alleging a cover up, The National Law Journal reported.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW COPY OF COURT DOCUMENT
Leicester Bryce Stovell, a Washington, D.C. lawyer says he has believed he was James' father and even took a DNA test at one time in Cleveland. He alleges the test results were falsified and that James' mother, Gloria James and James' attorney have all led a campaign to prevent him from pursuing and resolving the issue.
In the complaint, which was first reported by TMZ.COM on Wednesday, Stovell claims that Gloria James threatened him and committed fraud and misrepresentation in an effort to conceal the identity of James' father. It also alleges that she and LeBron James have defamed Stovell's character, quoting LeBron James as having publicly said, "I want to be a better father than mine was."
In a 2002 interview with ESPN The Magazine, Gloria James claimed Lebron's father was a man she named as Anthony McClelland.
However, according to Stovell, a DNA test has eliminated McClelland as being Lebron's father.
The June 23 complaint goes on to say that during mid-March 1984 he met Lebron's mother at a bar in Washington, D.C., while she was visiting from Ohio. He goes on to say that while they were only intimate once, Gloria James became pregnant and told him months later that she was pregnant with a boy she planned to name LeBron, seemingly after "Leicester Bryce."
According to Lebron's Wikipedia page, his mother gave birth to him on December 30, 1984 at the age of 16. The page also says that Lebron James' father, Anthony McClelland, "was an ex-con who left Gloria to be a single mother."
"I recently have concluded that a comprehensive, sophisticated and well-funded effort might well have been underway for quite some time," said Stovell. " Perhaps beginning in its present form as early as when Defendant LeBron James was in high school, to frustrate identification of his real father, and that there is a likelihood that the father in question is me," Stovall said in his complaint, which seeks millions of dollars in damages.
Stovell, a former attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. He filed suit against the SEC in 1999 alleging racial discrimination. The case was settled in 2002 when the SEC agreed to pay him $230,000 without admitting any fault, according to a report by The National Law Journal. Stovell now works primarily as a consultant on securities and financial regulatory issues.
Stovell said he considered other avenues prior to filing the suit, including researching the legal issues involved, and identifying potential witnesses. When asked about the explosive nature of his lawsuit and James' fame, Stovell replied, "Skepticism under circumstances like this is not an unusual response at all. I have prepared myself for a certain measure of skepticism, particularly if someone has not read the complaint."
But, he added, "I think it's possible to persuade a group of reasonable people that my position is completely appropriate under the circumstances." He said he expects to request a new paternity test as part of discovery.
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