CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WOWK) — A civil lawsuit surrounding the seizure of a helicopter owned by West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice’s family-owned business Bluestone Resources is being transferred to a different district.
According to court records, a motion was filed Nov. 8, 2023, by an attorney on behalf of Bluestone Resources, Inc. (BRI), to have the case moved to the Roanoke Division of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia. The lawsuit had originally been filed in the Court’s Abingdon Division by the plaintiff, Caroleng Investments Limited.
A judge granted the motion on Nov. 9, 2023, ordering the case to be transferred to the Roanoke Division. The judge also ordered that a hearing regarding the case scheduled for Nov. 16, 2023, in the Abingdon Division was to be canceled.
The motion states that BRI operations and the location where the helicopter in question is stored are in the Roanoke Division’s portion of the district.
In October, court documents showed that U.S. Marshals were sent to seize the helicopter due to “unpaid debts.” The writ of execution for that seizure was filed Thursday, Oct. 5 in the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Virginia.
Court records from October stated this is in reference to a decision made by the United States District Court for the District of Delaware in 2021 that favored Caroleng over BRI. A total of $10,132,520.20 was awarded, plus a 9% yearly interest rate from May 13, 2020, until payment, according to court documents.
