May.20, 2010, 8:24 am

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBS4) ― Retired NFL star Warren Sapp is asking to recover a large amount of money that he invested with Ponzi scheme operator Scott Rothstein's bankrupt law firm. The former Miami Hurricane player had more than $100,000 in a trust account with the law firm which collapsed when Rothstein's billion-dollar Ponzi scheme was exposed.

Attorneys for Sapp filed a federal court petition Monday in Rothstein's criminal case. The attorneys say Sapp has interest in money the federal government is seeking in a forfeiture action.

Sapp's trust account is not connected to Rothstein's Ponzi scheme which he allegedly ran out of his Fort Lauderdale law office.

A court hearing is set for May 28 involving the petitions of Sapp and others who are seeking trust account funds.

Rothstein has pleaded guilty to five charges of conspiracy, racketeering, money-laundering and wire fraud for duping wealthy investors by selling them bogus civil settlements based on purported sexual harassment and whistle-blower complaints. The investor funds were funneled through local branches of Toronto Dominion Bank and Gibraltar Bank.

Rothstein could be sent to prison for up to 100 years at his sentencing in June -- though his assistance in an FBI sting operation that recently took down an accused Italian mafia figure from Miami Beach could help reduce his incarceration.