U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg announced Jan. 16 that Brent Brown, former CEO of Latitude 360 Inc., pleaded guilty to failing to pay taxes withheld from employees.
Latitude 360 was a Jacksonville-based company that operated entertainment and dining venues in Jacksonville and two other cities.
The company went public in 2014 and announced ambitious expansion plans.
However, the company abruptly shut down its venue on Jacksonville’s Southside and the two other facilities in early 2016 amid financial problems.
Three creditors of Latitude 360 filed an involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition for the company in January 2017 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jerry Funk confirmed a plan of liquidation for the company in December 2019.
Brown was charged in January 2022 with 17 counts of failing to remit taxes after an Internal Revenue Service investigation.
“Latitude 360 withheld taxes from employee wages, including federal income taxes and Federal Insurance Contributions Act, or ‘FICA’ taxes, which were required periodically to be remitted to the Internal Revenue Service,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.
“Brown, on behalf of the company, filed quarterly tax returns that accurately reflected the payroll taxes due, but he caused the company to fail to pay over the payroll taxes to the IRS.”
The case was filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Jacksonville Division.
The U.S. Attorney said Brown agreed to pay about $3.8 million in restitution to the IRS as part of his plea agreement.
Brown also faces up to five years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not been set.