DURHAM - Mike Nifong, the former Durham district attorney who lost his job and law license for misconduct in the Duke lacrosse case, should not be kicked out of federal bankruptcy court for making too much money, a federal court administrator has concluded.

Michael D. West, a bankruptcy administrator, filed a statement in the case last week.

Nifong's case, West said in his statement, should not be "presumed to be an abuse" even though his annual income is $146,151, or $12,179 a month.

After West issued a statement in February that could have led to dismissal of Nifong's bankruptcy case, the former prosecutor and his attorney, Jim Craven, amended court documents to reclassify the potential debt as nonconsumer, thereby raising the allowable income level.

A statement is a recommendation, not a court ruling.

Nifong filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in federal court Jan. 15, the deadline for responding to a civil lawsuit brought by Dave Evans, Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, the three lacrosse players he pursued in criminal court for more than a year.

In their suit, the exonerated players allege a conspiracy by Nifong, the city of Durham, the DNA laboratory hired by Nifong and others to bring gang-rape allegations that were "a total fabrication."

In the bankruptcy petition, Nifong listed potential debts of $180.3 million -- a projected $30 million each to Evans, Finnerty and Seligmann, and $30 million each to three other players who were not charged with rape but who filed civil claims late last year.

Bankruptcy rules would not protect Nifong from financial claims if a judge finds that he acted willfully and maliciously in his prosecution of the players.

But until the bankruptcy issues are resolved, all civil actions against Nifong are on hold. A federal judge has ordered Nifong dropped from the civil suit pending resolution of the bankruptcy proceedings.

But James A. Beaty, the federal judge who entered the order, left open the possibility that Nifong could be added to the suit again.

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