A Nashville jury has ordered that Scotty McCreery pay his former manager $239,329 to compensate for five months of back pay.

The decision came on Wednesday, June 18 after Todd Cassetty filed a lawsuit against the former American Idol.

According to The Tennessean, McCreery and Cassetty joined forces in 2012 after Scotty parted ways with 19 Entertainment, the company who managed him following his American Idol win. However, Scotty and Todd decided to end their professional relationship in early 2013.

According to Todd, who was represented by Nashville attorneys Stephen Zralek and Ed Yarbrough, Scotty was to pay him the standard pay of 15 percent of his gross income for the time that he served as his manager.

Scotty’s mother Judy McCreery controls most of her son’s finances, and was named a defendant in the case. Scotty and Todd never had a written agreement, but according to emails from Scotty, he had told Todd that he would pay him the 15 percent. Scotty later tried to offer Todd 2 percent after the lawsuit was filed, but Todd did not feel this was a fair amount.

In July 2013, Scotty released a statement claiming that he had offered to pay Todd more than once. “There is no truth to these allegations. I have offered to pay Todd more than once, but he wanted an unreasonable amount for only five months of work,” the statement read. “Anyone who knows me knows how I conduct myself, so I am not worried they will believe any of this. This is just an attempt to embarrass me and my family. The facts will come out when we have our day in court.”

Following the court’s ruling, McCreery issued another statement. “I am very pleased with the management fee ruling of only $239,000, which was less than half of the $570,000 Mr. Cassetty requested,” he said. “It was always my intention to pay Mr. Cassetty and indeed had offered to pay him more than once. His request, however, for over half a million dollars was too much for a few months of work.

“While it has been difficult to risk having my reputation challenged, I always believed that the truth would prevail, and it has,” Scotty added. “I have a management team, including a professional business manager, in Nashville advising me. Now I am happy to put this behind me and focus on my music. As always, I am thankful to my fans for all of their support.”

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