Founder of AeroVanti, Patrick Britton-Harr, faces up to 20 years in prison for each count after being convicted of scamming $15 million.
Just weeks after launching his newest private jet programs, AeroVanti CEO Patrick Britton-Harr was found guilty by a federal jury in Maryland on six counts of wire fraud.
Patrick Britton-Harr, 43, of Annapolis, founded the private jet company in 2021.
It offered several memberships using Piaggio turboprops.
Britton-Harr faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison per count, according to a DOJ press release.
A federal district court judge determines sentencing guidelines after considering the sentencing and other statutory factors.
Kelly O. Hayes, U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, announced the guilty verdict with Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva, Justice Department, Criminal Division; Special Agent in Charge Jimmy Paul, FBI Baltimore Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Greg Thompson, Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General.
Duva said, “Patrick Britton-Harr stole millions of dollars from his customers by lying to them about how he would use and protect their money,” adding, “He used his business as a front to fraudulently induce his clients to make down payments for services never provided.”
Duva continued, “Meanwhile, he bought yachts, expensive jewelry, and lined his own pockets.”
He added, “If you prey on, trick, and defraud people, you will be investigated and prosecuted.”
Britton-Harr is facing a second trial in October.
That trial includes multiple counts of health care fraud and one count of money laundering related to his participation in a scheme to bill Medicare for respiratory tests fraudulently.
The jury concluded Britton-Harr “defrauded customers by making false promises about how he planned to use their money.”
Top Gun members paid $150,000 upfront to help the company buy a plane in exchange for a block of discounted flight hours.
Britton-Harr promised to use their money to purchase specific aircraft.
He pledged to protect their money by delivering the aircraft titles to escrow.
The Top Gun members collectively paid approximately $15 million in upfront payments to purchase five aircraft.
However, Britton-Harr never purchased the aircraft.
Evidence at the trial, according to prosecutors, showed:
‘Instead of buying the aircraft, Britton-Harr misappropriated members’ money for his own personal benefit. This included purchasing yachts and jewelry, paying for his living expenses, and renting a $ 10,000-per-month home near Tampa, Florida. Evidence at trial further established that Britton-Harr then attempted to conceal his fraud by obtaining a $1.5 million loan to purchase one of the aircraft he had already claimed that he purchased with Top Gun member funds by withholding material information from the lender to obtain the loan.’
In advance of his trials, Britton-Harr was relaunching AeroVanti via a partnership with Dallas, Texas-based PlaneSmart.
Flights in Florida were supposed to start last month.
Back in April, he emailed former members and prospects that PlaneSmart “has opened a satellite office at KSRQ and provided AeroVanti a Pilatus PC-12 aircraft to relocate and base it out of KSRQ starting as early as May 15, 2026.”
He had also launched BrixleyXchange.
A presentation stated it offers “The only multi-currency accounting software, with a fully integrated BrixleyXchange Prepaid Mastercard and FX Payment Platform, created specifically for the aviation and JetCard industry.”
A former executive estimated that AeroVanti may have owed as much as $50 million.
Lessors, members, vendors, and marketing partners were all stiffed by Britton-Harr, the executive said.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Chicago Cubs sued over unpaid marketing programs.
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