NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam has agreed to be deposed under specific conditions in civil lawsuits against the truck-stop chain owned by him and his brother, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, according to court documents.
Jimmy Haslam attorney Stephen Brody wrote Friday that Haslam and his attorneys are willing to go forward "as long as the deposition proceeds in the orderly manner outlined below" and are "eager to put it behind us," according to The Tennessean (http://tnne.ws/1Why8Ga ).
Brody specified that one deposition involving all cases must occur during one seven-hour day.
Jimmy Haslam had been ordered to be deposed next Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by Mobile, Alabama-based Wright Transportation. It's among several companies suing Knoxville-based Pilot Flying J in connection with a scheme to cheat customers out of promised discounts and rebates.
But Brody wants the deposition to be delayed until after an Alabama court decides whether the Wright Transportation lawsuit should proceed in state or federal court.
Haslam, who is president and CEO of Pilot Flying J, has denied any knowledge of the scheme that has cost the company $177 million in settlements with customers and the government since it came to light after federal agents raided the company's Knoxville, Tennessee, headquarters in April 2013.
Pilot's former president and seven others, including two former top executives, have been indicted and face trial next year. Another 10 former employees have pleaded guilty in the fraud. Jimmy Haslam has not been charged.
Bill Haslam has said he is not involved with operating the company. It is the nation's largest diesel retailer with $31.4 billion in revenue in 2014.