Curtis Tate Published

Justice Creditors Agree To Sale Of Coal Company’s Helicopter

Gray haired man sits at a podium with two more men out of focus behind him.
Gov. Jim Justice delivering his eighth and final State of the State Adress to a joint session of the West Virginia Legislature.
Perry Bennett/WV Legislative Photography
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Two of Gov. Jim Justice’s creditors have agreed to sell a helicopter to help settle a debt.

Caroleng Investments, a Caribbean company, and First Source Bank, of South Bend, Indiana, have submitted a joint proposal to sell a helicopter owned by Bluestone Resources.

Bluestone, which is one of Justice’s numerous companies, did not participate in the agreement, filed Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.

Bluestone owes Caroleng about $10 million and sought the helicopter as a partial repayment.

Bluestone and First Source tried unsuccessfully to convince a federal judge to stay an order for U.S. Marshals to seize the helicopter on Caroleng’s behalf.

The agreement directs Bluestone to surrender the 2009 Bell helicopter to a third party, Heli-X, of Colleyville, Texas, within 72 hours of the court’s issuance of an initial sale order.

A judge will have to approve the agreement.