Video from DimeWars.com

For weeks now there has been speculation that Grammy winning superstar Usher was close to filing divorce. Today, In Touch Weekly sources say the “Here I Stand” star has filed for divorce in Atlanta !

“Usher’s primary concern is for his (two) children, he is a great father and just wants to do what is right for them,” an insider told the magazine.

Claiming Usher has been living “apart from his wife for nearly a year,” In Touch’s source says the singer has numerous reasons for stepping away from his wife of two years — Tameka Foster Raymond. One of those reasons could be Raymond’s decision to travel to Brazil for what turned out to be a near fatal cosmetic procedure.

“(he) had no idea that she was there to have surgery,” the source claims.

Check out more to the story

There has to be more to this story. It has to be more than just that considering if she was doing the surgery, it was probably to try to stay looking young for him. Sure he may have been ticked about her doing it without his knowledge, but that’s not enough to make someone leave the mother of his children.

AP

Lawyers are facing off today in a Virginia courtroom over the former Falcons quarterback’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy. Suspended Falcons quarterback Michael Vick is in federal court this morning, where teams of lawyers are facing off over his plan to emerge from bankruptcy.

The suspended NFL star’s plan partly depends on him rejoining the league. Vick, nearing the end of a 23-month federal prison sentence for his role in a dogfighting conspiracy, hopes to earn as much as $10 million a year or more, according to court filings in his bankruptcy case.

Under the plan he submitted to the court, Vick would keep the first $750,000 of his annual income over the next five years. After that, a percentage would go to his creditors based on a sliding scale.

Supporters of Vick’s plan include a committee of his unsecured creditors, including Radtke Sports, Royal Bank of Canada, Wachovia Bank and 1st Source Bank.

“The plan should be approved because it provides substantially all the benefits of the liquidation of Vick’s assets,” said Ross Reeves, one of the committee’s attorneys, “and offers the potential of recovering lots more money in the event Vick is able to rehabilitate his career and go back and play football.”

But an array of creditors and other parties have filed objections. Among them: the U.S. Labor Department, the Internal Revenue Service, the Virginia Department of Taxation and the regional U.S. trustee’s office.

In its complaint filed last month, the Labor Department accuses Vick of illegally spending about $1.3 million in pension plan funds for his own benefit, including paying his bankruptcy attorney and restitution ordered in his dogfighting case.

The complaint alleges Vick and others violated federal employee benefits law by making a series of transfers between March 2007 and July 2008 from a pension plan sponsored by his celebrity marketing company, MV7. The company sponsored a retirement plan for nine current and former employees. Vick failed to show his $1.3 million in debt to the plan in his bankruptcy filings, according to the complaint.

“This action sends a message that the Labor Department will not tolerate the misuse of plan money and will take whatever steps necessary to recover the assets owed to eligible workers,” Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said in a statement issued last month.

On July 7, about seven months after he was sentenced to federal prison, Vick filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. He listed 30 creditors, including the Atlanta Falcons and the IRS. The largest of Vick’s creditors was Joel Enterprises, with a claim of $4.5 million. Andrew Joel, a Richmond sports agent, filed a lawsuit against Vick in 2006 claiming he reneged on an endorsement deal. As of December, Vick had $16 million in assets and $20.4 million in debts, court records show.

Vick’s plan calls for liquidating much of his assets — including boats, vehicles, horses and three pieces of real estate — to pay off liens and expenses. He plans to retain three vehicles, including a 2007 Land Rover, a Lincoln Navigator and a 2007 Infiniti truck; a home in Hampton, Va. for his mother, Brenda Boddie; a home under construction in Suffolk, Va., a defined pension plan; some clothing; and furniture.

Vick declared bankruptcy after pleading guilty to federal dogfighting charges, being suspended by the Atlanta Falcons and NFL and losing an endorsement contract with Nike. He has been forced to pay substantial legal fees and nearly $1 million in restitution to care for the dogs after his indictment, his court filings show.

“The announcement of his indictment ultimately led to a variety of harmful personal and financial repercussions” for Vick, says his bankruptcy plan. Vick’s “income dropped precipitously and he was forced to rely upon cash generated from some of his investments, his savings and the sale of certain of his assets to support himself and his family.”

Check out some of the past covers at Prestige Magazine

Photo from AJC

A federal judge approved a plea deal Friday that will likely put Atlanta rapper T.I. in prison for a little less than 10 months for trying to buy machine guns and ammo from undercover agents in 2007.

U.S. District Court Judge Charles Pannell sentenced T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris Jr., to one year and one day under a negotiated plea. But the deal qualifies T.I. for credits likely to cut the sentence to about 298 days.

Atlanta and Fulton County news The 27-year-old rapper, clad in a dark suit and black shirt and tie, thanked the judge and prosecutors for giving him the chance to cut his prison time by speaking to youths about the pitfalls of crime, drugs and gangs. He has delivered that message to thousands in recent months.

“It means just as much to me to make you guys proud for what you have done as it does for me to make myself and my family proud,” he said at the sentencing hearing in downtown Atlanta.

“I’m a man of integrity. I’m a man of morals, of standards, of principle,” the entertainer said. He acknowledged that, to many, that may be difficult to believe, considering his criminal record.

Pannell said he would not have approved the deal — which includes far less prison time than federal guidelines call for on the weapons charges involved — if U.S. Attorney David Nahmias had not recommeded it.

“I think it’s been a good experiment,” Pannell said. “I’ve come to resist the lockup mentality that we often find ourselves in.”

It might lead to similar experimental sentencings that avoid sending people away and destroying their lives and their families, the judge said.

Panell also told T.I. directly: “I congratulate you on the year of work you have done so far.”

The sentence includes a $100,000 fine.

T.I. has requested assignment to a federal facility near Atlanta, and he will not have to report before May 19.

Upon release, he must be in home confinement for 60 days, he will have to perform another 470 hours of community service and he will serve three years on probation.

Before Pannell approved the deal, Former Atlanta Mayor and United Nations Ambassador Andrew Young spoke to the judge on T.I.’s behalf, as did Bishop Eddie Long of DeKalb County’s New Birth Baptist megachurch.

Ex-DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones also showed up for the hearing, saying he’s known the rapper for about eight years.

Nahmias, the U.S. attorney, acknowledged the plea agreement was controversial but said he was very satisfied with the outcome.

“By all accounts, his community service has been a remarkable success,” Nahmias said at a press conference after the sentencing. “It’s certainly exceeded our expectations.”

Nahmias said the deal was not made to benefit T.I., but to allow him to reach thousands of kids. “He has been able to communicate with them in a way most of us simply can’t,” Nahmias said.

The plea agreement enables T.I. to cut 15 percent off the one year, one day sentence with good behavior.

Under U.S. Bureau of Prison rules, inmates can earn such credit only if they are sentenced to longer than a year in prison. T.I. should serve an estimated 298 days — or a little less than 10 months. He is expected to get credit for the two weeks he sat in jail after his arrest and before posting a $3 million bond.

T.I.’s troubles began Oct. 13, 2007, just hours before he was to receive two awards at the BET Hip-Hop Awards ceremony in Atlanta. He was arrested in a Midtown parking lot by federal agents for trying to buy machine guns and silencers. A search of his car and home yielded a number of handguns and rifles, a problem because T.I. had a prior felony conviction for cocaine distribution.

T.I. pleaded guilty to illegal firearms possession and being a convicted felon with a firearm.

Federal sentencing guidelines recommended T.I. serve at least four years and nine months behind bars.

But T.I.’s defense team worked out an extraordinary deal with federal prosecutors: If T.I. would perform at least 1,000 hours of community service, telling youths to respect and follow the law, he could surrender to the Bureau of Prisons a year later and get a reduced sentence.

Area criminal defense lawyers howled in protest, saying T.I. traded his celebrity for leniency. Federal prosecutors countered the rapper’s influential message would help prevent crime.

“He has done everything in his power to deliver a positive message,” Ed Garland, one of the rapper’s attorneys, told Pannell on Friday. “It’s a message of redemption and atonement, a message of hope, a message of change. … That message has reasonated, connected and inspired thousands, maybe tens of thousands of youth.”

Garland said the rapper has complied with all the requirements of his plea agreement. This includes serving 305 days of home confinement, attending more than 260 events and earning 1,030 hours of community service credit.

T.I. has been to 25 states and spoken to thousands of teens and adults. Over the past year, he went to 58 schools, 12 Boys and Girls Clubs, nine churches and other community functions. He visited two Georgia Department of Juvenile Justice facilities, one in Columbus and another in DeKalb County.

At Friday’s sentencing, T.I. said he had no excuses for breaking weapons laws, but he said he was trying to arm himself because an attack had been made on his life and his best friend had died in his arms a short time earlier.

“My judgment was somewhat jaded,” he said.

“This has truly been an insightful moment in my life, and I’ve taken great lessons from this chapter. I will use it to help others.”

After his sentencing was complete, T.I. stood before a bank of microphones and cameras and said he hopes others can learn from his own mistakes.

“Although I am not thrilled about my next year and a day, I am pleased I can begin the process of putting this behind me,” he said.

When asked how he will serve his time, T.I. said simply, “One day at a time.”

And his music? “You ain’t got to worry about that,” he said with a grin. “That’s going to handle itself.”