The former owners of Lupo’s Italian Chophouse are suing Shawne Merriman for $10 million following Merriman’s refusal to pay for partial ownership of Lupo’s as stipulated in a contract, according to court documents.

Peter and Anthony Lupo filed the suit after the former Terp and current San Diego Chargers outside linebacker failed to pay $195,000 to transfer a liquor license and a 45 percent share of the restaurant ownership from the Lupo brothers to him, according to the complaint filed Feb. 22 in Prince George’s County Circuit Court.

According to court documents Merriman’s attorney’s should have filed a response to the suit today, but his attorney said he is currently working on the response.

Arthur House, Merriman’s attorney, said “We’re in active litigation. We’re just filing our responses,” but he declined to comment further.

According to the documents, the Lupo brothers and their attorney believe Merriman intentionally misled them into thinking he was interested in buying shares of the business. In the documents, the Lupo brothers said they suffered “substantial financial damages” as a result of Merriman’s decision to break the contract.

David Marks, the attorney for the Lupo brothers, could not be reached for comment.

Reports of former Terps football phenomenon Merriman taking over shares of Lupo’s originally surfaced in August. By February, Alan Wanuck, owner of Alario’s Pizzeria, expressed interest in the restaurant, and last month Wanuck received a liquor license for the bar and restaurant he plans to rename Curley’s Grill.

A membership interest sales agreement from Sept. 7 stipulating that Merriman pay the expenses was signed by both Lupo brothers and Merriman’s attorney, according to documents that were obtained by The Diamondback.

After the contract went into effect Sept. 7, Merriman informed multiple vendors about his interest in Lupo’s and the Lupo brothers’ names were taken off some of the business accounts, according to the documents.

While Merriman handed over “partial payment,” the brothers claim in the complaint that he never met the terms of his contract. By December, Merriman’s attorney had sent the Lupo brothers a letter stating his intent to break the contract.

According to the court documents, Kibwe J. Hughes negotiated the sales agreement as Merriman’s agent. However, Hughes said he didn’t have any involvement in the issue.

“Actually I don’t know anything about it,” Hughes said.