Court Rejects Ex-KGEZ Owner's Bid For Chapter 11

John Stokes

JOHN STOKES tried again this week to put his companies into Chapter 11 bankruptcy rather than the involuntary Chapter 7, but a court rejected the former Talk KGEZ-A/KALISPELL, MT owner's bid. The MISSOULIAN reports that STOKES, whose station shut down in SEPTEMBER, represented himself in the hearing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in MISSOULA and asked for additional time to prepare his arguments for his petition for reconsideration of the conversion of his bankruptcy to Chapter 7, a request rejected by the judge.

STOKES, a controversial figure who fought neighbors and the government for several years over property rights issues, lost a defamation judgment to the neighbors, leading to his bankruptcy. Trustee RICHARD SAMSON has applied to the FCC for approval to transfer STOKES' SKYLINE BROADCASTERS, INC.'s license for KGEZ to the trust because STOKES allegedly allowed SKYLINE's corporate status to expire while failing to notify the Commission of the fact. 

The court converted his bankruptcy to Chapter 7 after Judge RALPH B. KIRSCHER ruled that STOKES had not disclosed all of his assets to the court, had not paid taxes for years, and had not fulfilled financial reporting requirements or paid filing fees.

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