Christopher Devine and his businesses have been sued numerous times over the years by people and companies who have contended he hasn't paid bills on time or fulfilled obligations in business deals.

Disputes have been filed in Nevada, California and Oregon, but much of the litigation was filed in Illinois where many Devine companies are based. Some of the legal wrangling involved relatively small amounts of money, but has reached as high as six and seven figures.

A Pennsylvania-based company, RoadSafe Traffic, won a $240,000 arbitration award in October against Devine, Devine Racing of Nevada and Devine Racing Management for work it did in setting up barriers and controlling traffic during the 2006 and 2007 Las Vegas marathons.

"We agreed to the award, everything is fine," Devine said of the suit.

Churchill Media claimed breach of contract over its failed effort to purchase a radio station in Lebanon, Ore., from Portland Broadcasting, a Devine company, for $4 million. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Oregon alleged Devine failed to follow through on terms both sides reached in 2007. The lawsuit settled out of court in February.

"They sued us because we wouldn't sell a radio station," Devine said. "I guess you can sue for anything."

Court records show much of the litigation filed against Devine in Utah courts in the late 1980s and early 1990s was dismissed or ended with a payment. KBER 101.1 FM, an Ogden-based radio station, was one of the Devine entities that was sued several times.

Devine, who no longer owns KBER, said he took over the station's license in 1986 from a company that was in bankruptcy. The deal involved certain risks, he said.

"We buy entities and turn them around," he said. "In my whole, career, I've operated over 200 radio stations. Some have worked, some haven't."

In federal courts, at least 11 lawsuits have been filed against Devine and his businesses, three of which were litigated in Utah. Ten of them have been resolved.

The most recent Utah federal suit alleged Devine and business partner Bruce Buzil violated terms of a $4.6 million loan agreement. Devine and Buzil -- while denying certain claims -- settled the matter by resigning in November as managers of D&B Towers LLC and turning over all company property to plaintiff Simmons Media Group.

Lya Wodraska and Elizabeth Neff contributed to this story.