Guns, explosives seized in Everglades eviction. Veteran owners owe more than $12 million

Seven law enforcement agencies and 73 officers converged at Altair Training Solutions in Hendry County on Wednesday to evict the firearm training business and its owners, CEO Brian Jones and his wife, Executive VP Michelle Jones, of Naples.

Altair, under the name Blue Spoon LLC, owes more than $12 million in loans, interest, taxes, court costs and attorney’s fees.

Despite the show of force at the complex, a former prison, the Hendry County Sheriff's Office released a statement late Wednesday stating the action was civil and that the property had been foreclosed and sold at auction. "Due to the size of the facility and the type of training being conducted there," Sheriff Steve Whidden decided for safety reasons to "organize an operation," a news release stated. No arrests were made.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which had officers on the scene, seized several illegal weapons, and the Southwest Florida Regional Bomb Squad confiscated a "small amount of explosive ordnance," wrote Capt. Susan Harrelle, public information officer for the Hendry County Sheriff's Office. Also involved were officers from the Collier County and Lee County Sheriff's Offices, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Department of Homeland Security. 

More: Altair offered hope for Hendry County, but few jobs, no money

Michelle and Brian Jones, who were at the business Wednesday, could not be reached for comment Thursday. The business number was answered by voicemail, and email messages to a Facebook page and company email received no response. The voicemail box for Michelle Jones' cellphone was full.

The Joneses purchased the long-shuttered Hendry Correctional Institute for $3.7 million in 2012. The 1,100-acre site was to be used for military-style training of police forces, military units and private security.

Attractive, energetic and charismatic, the couple found backers among private investors and the support of state and local officials who quickly approved tax incentive programs for the fledgling company. The Army veterans' history of credit problems and failed business ventures were overshadowed by the prospect of 150 new high-paying jobs for Hendry County, which at the time had the highest unemployment rate in Florida.

Based on the Joneses' employment and $36.25 million in capital investment projections, the state approved Altair for its economic development program under Enterprise Florida. The designation qualified the company for more than $800,000 in tax refund payments from the state. In 2015, Gov. Rick Scott lauded the company as an example of successful public-private partnerships claiming the company had created 35 jobs.

Few of those jobs showed up on the state tax rolls, and within seven months of Scott's photo opportunity at Altair, the state terminated the company from the Enterprise Florida program.

According to court records, Altair failed to make any payments on a $4.5 million mortgage and a $4 million line of credit from a private funding operation. The company owes Hendry County $244,253 in unpaid taxes from 2015, 2016 and 2017. A court-appointed receiver is owed more than $143,000. And Brian Jones' promissory note for $375,000 also remains unpaid.

In late 2015 the mortgage holders filed a foreclosure lawsuit, and on May 30 the lenders were awarded the property in a foreclosure auction. Robert White, with CMG Partners, said the property was collateral on a $4.5 million mortgage and a $4 million operating line of credit. With the addition of interest, late fees, a promissory note and attorney fees, CMG investors are owed more than $11.5 million.

White said the action Wednesday allowed his company to retrieve the property and put it up for sale. The large-scale operation was the Hendry County sheriff's call, White said and "out of an abundance of caution," Whidden organized a large-scale show of force. "I'm not sure it was necessary," White said. "But it was effective."