No stranger to the law, Marion Suge Knight found himself in in court again last Thursday answering allegations that he had been avoiding payment on debts incurred in a 2005 civil suit. The court would seize his assets to satisfy the $107 million judgment against him.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sohigian said Knight, who co-founded Death Row with rapper Dr. Dre in the early 1990s and helped launch the careers of performers Snoop Dogg and Tupac Shakur, could stave off the order if he fully disclosed his assets in a debtor's exam set for April 1.

Sohigian said he would appoint a court officer to take over Knight's finances because he had failed to make good on a $107 million judgment won last March by Lydia Harris, who claimed he cheated her out of a 50 percent stake in the rap label.

"Because he had a long history of deceiving the court and avoiding payment, I asked the court to appoint a receiver to take over," Harris' attorney, Rex Julian Beaber, said. "If Knight cooperates in providing the information, he can ask the court to remove the receiver. But I don't think there's a chance in hell Knight is going to cooperate."

The court has noted that Knight has been increasingly difficult during the proceedings of the case. Lawyers for Knight claim that a settlement between the parties has been met, although it has yet to be accepted by the court.

A lawyer for Knight, Dermot Givens, said later the judge had not formally signed an order taking control of the rap mogul's assets, and Givens expected to have it overturned by proving Knight and Harris had reached a settlement in the case.

"In May of 2005, she received a million dollars and rights to various music, and she signed a settlement agreement," Givens told Reuters. He said Harris was trying to back out of that settlement under pressure from her ex-husband, Michael, who would be entitled to share in the original $107 million judgment.

The judge has not signed off on any settlement between Knight and Harris. Beaber and a lawyer for Michael Harris, Steven Goldberg, said there was no such agreement and Goldberg predicted Knight would ultimately lose control of his record label.

The $107 million judgment was originally awarded in March 2005 amid claims by Knight that he had never even met Lydia Harris.

According to the L.A. Times, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald Sohigian ordered the rap mogul to pay Harris a total judgment of $107 million. The amount was broken down as $45 million in economic, $2 in non-economic, and $60 million in punitive damages.

Not to be outdone, Knight as filed a countersuit against Michael Harris, husband of Lydia Harris, claiming fraud, conspiracy, racketeering, and attempted extortion.

[Michael] Harris, who is currently serving a 28-year sentence for narcotics distribution and attempted murder, claims he contributed more than $1.5 million in 1991 to help Knight found his record label, an assertion that Knight has repeatedly denied.

On Friday, Knight's attorney, Dermot Givens, alleged that Harris was a federal informant, who came up with a "a scheme to blackmail various entertainment industry entities" by threatening to sue over his alleged drug money investments.

"There was an effort to silence rap music and specifically Suge Knight, who was its icon," Givens told the Associated Press.

At press time, Vanilla Ice could not be reached for comment.