A group of former professional football players is trying to kick off a multimillion-dollar suit over bogus tax credits after a local lawyer who handled their money pleaded guilty to fraud.

The plaintiffs, including former Bears quarterback Kyle Orton and former NFL stars Terrell Owens and Ray Lewis, have asked an appeals court to lift the stay on their case that was implemented so the lawyer, Gary J. Stern of Northbrook, wouldn’t be forced to incriminate himself as his criminal case was playing out.

But late last week, the former NFL players told the 1st District Appellate Court that Stern waived his Fifth Amendment rights when he accepted a plea agreement in his case last month. Stern admitted to preparing fraudulent tax returns that were related to the players’ investments.

But there is also “ample discovery unrelated to Stern that needs to be completed,” the plaintiffs have argued.

“Notably, there are nineteen (19) individuals and a general partnership who are plaintiffs in this matter and only a handful have been deposed,” wrote the players’ attorneys, Amir R. Tahmassebi and Daniel F. Konicek of Konicek & Dillon P.C. “Similarly, there are other individuals, aside from Stern, who have not been deposed. Moreover, this case requires numerous third-party witnesses to be deposed — none of which has been completed.”

The suit was originally filed in July 2011, and alleges that Stern and others at his firm, Chuhak & Tecson P.C., helped the players invest in gas and oil partnerships in order to earn tax credits under Internal Revenue Code Section 45K, once known as Section 29.

Chuhak & Tecson allegedly helped operate tax shelter entities that supposedly aimed to convert landfill gas to electricity so investors could gain tax credits. But the players ultimately found they weren’t eligible for the credits because the tax havens didn’t meet certain statutory requirements, their suit claims. And they claimed the firm duped them into the investments while knowing they wouldn’t qualify for the credits.

All told, the players invested more than $10 million in the entities and are seeking damages that exceed that due to penalties and interest.

A U.S. Tax Court opinion in July found that the firm retained, on average, about 50 percent of the investments its clients paid into the partnerships. That court compared Chuhak’s and others’ actions to medieval attempts to turn various substances into gold through alchemy.

“Although such experiments have proven to be futile in the past, we still observe brave men and women undertaking to turn something into gold today. Instead of alchemy, however, tax law is one of the most popular tools for that purpose,” the court wrote.

“These consolidated cases represent an attempt to turn gas allegedly produced from landfills into gold by means of applying provisions giving tax credits meant by Congress to encourage tapping into new energy sources.

“The partnerships were involved in an intricate scheme that consisted of numerous entities and contractual arrangements designed to turn gas derived from decomposition of municipal waste into gold.”

Michael J. Flaherty of Flaherty & Youngerman P.C. represents Chuhak & Tecson in the case.

He said today he hadn’t seen the latest motion, but that the appellate court denied a similar one in September and ordered the process to remain on hold until after Stern is sentenced in federal court.

Tahmassebi said the ex-players are asking the appellate court to send the matter back to the circuit court so they can “expeditiously” begin the discovery process.

“We’re anxious to get this matter in front of a jury,” he said.

The case is Laveranues Coles, et al., v. Chuhak & Tecson P.C., et al., Nos. 1-15-0374 and 1-15-0477.