Sarasota private jet service founder convicted of $15M fraud

Patrick Britton-Harr, the twice-indicted CEO of the Sarasota and Annapolis, Maryland, private jet membership firm, has been found guilty of defrauding victims of $15 million.

The 43-year-old faces 120 years in federal prison after being found guilty of six counts of wire fraud by a federal jury in Baltimore. Britton-Harr is also facing an October trial in Maryland for alleged Medicare fraud.

It was unclear Thursday if he had been taken into custody or if a sentencing date had been set. His Maryland attorney, Gerald C. Ruter, did not respond to either a voice message or email Thursday seeking answers about Britton-Harr’s status and if there are plans to appeal the conviction. The company Britton founded, and was once lauded for, was named AeroVanti. 

Britton-Harr did not respond to an email.

The U.S. Department of Justice says in a statement that, “through his greed and deceitful actions, Mr. Britton-Harr showed a total disregard for the law and others.”

“Patrick Britton-Harr stole millions of dollars from his customers by lying to them about how he would use and protect their money,” says Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva in the statement.

“He used his business as a front to fraudulently induce his clients to make down payments for services never provided," Duva says. "Meanwhile he bought yachts, expensive jewelry, and lined his own pockets.”

The verdict brings am end to at least one sordid chapter of the Britton-Harr saga — which ensnared not only unsuspecting investors but former Manatee County Administrator Scott Hopes and Britton-Harr’s own brother Todd Britton-Harr of Tampa.

According to the statement, court records and previous reporting by the Business Observer, is what happened.

AeroVanti was founded in 2021 selling what it called Top Gun memberships for $150,000 to groups that would share the use of private planes bought from the proceeds of the memberships. Early on the business was seen as a top up-and-coming company in the region and Britton-Harr a rising entrepreneurial star. (In 2022, the Business Observer named the then 38-year-old to its 40 Under 40 list.)

At one point, while announcing a new hire in 2022, Britton-Harr said revenue had grown 400% since launching in July 2021. In May of 2023, the company sponsored a car that ran in the Coca Cola 600 NASCAR race at the Charlotte Motor Speedway.

That was the public face.

Privately, according to the indictment that led to the conviction, Britton-Harr’s success wasn’t what it appeared to be.

The fees paid by the members were to be put in escrow and could only be distributed for reasons set out in a written agreement. The primary reason for this set up, prosecutors quote the membership agreement in the indictment, was to “acquire and recondition (a specifically designated aircraft) to meet AeroVanti fleet standards.”

The titles to the aircrafts would also be put into escrow.

But Britton-Harr had no intention of following the procedures and from the beginning intended to use the money for himself, prosecutors charged.

By 2023, customers began to file lawsuits charging AeroVanti sold memberships for planes that had been repossessed; allegations its fleet had been grounded while it poured money into pro sports and other sponsorships; and questions about the veracity of claims it raised $100 million from investors.

That was followed by lawsuits from former employees, several reshufflings of the CEO position and charges of contempt in a Maryland federal court in the Medicare fraud case after a $30 million judgement.

According to the Justice Department statement, the Top Gun members collectively paid approximately $15 million in upfront payments to purchase five aircraft.

Instead of buying the aircraft, Britton-Harr used the money for his own personal benefit, including buying yachts and jewelry, paying for his living expenses and renting a $10,000 per month home near Tampa.

Evidence at the trial, according to the statement, also proved Britton-Harr then attempted to conceal his fraud by taking out a $1.5 million loan to buy one of the aircrafts he already claimed that he purchased by withholding material information from the lender.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ari D. Evans and Fraud Section Attorney Ariel Glasner prosecuted case, along with assistance provided by Fraud Section Trial Attorney Tara Shinnick. 

The FBI and Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General investigated Britton-Harr.

“This conviction holds Patrick Britton-Harr accountable for the lies he told and the millions of dollars he stole from customers to bankroll his extravagant lifestyle,” says Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Baltimore Field Office Jimmy Paul in the statement.

“The FBI and our law enforcement partners work tirelessly to protect victims from fraudsters and will go after anyone who takes advantage of investors for personal gain.”