Private jet divides Tampa businessmen

Two big names in Tampa Bay area business, developer Pradip Patel and Lazydays RV Center founder Don Wallace, are locked in an ugly fight over a $6 million private jet.

Among other allegations, Patel accuses Wallace's aircraft sales businesses, Air Logic Sales, of selling him a Gulfstream jet that turned out to be a lemon. He also claims that while the plane was still in Wallace's possession - but after Patel had purchased it - Wallace used the jet for his own benefit without Patel's permission.

In a lawsuit that has been ongoing for two years, Patel is suing Wallace as well as Air Logic Sales and Air Logic Solutions.

Wallace's attorney, Barry Cohen, said Patel bought the plane on an "as-is" basis, but he denied the jet was a lemon. He also said Wallace never used Patel's jet improperly.

The fight dates to May 2005, when Patel wanted to buy a jet and lease it out for charter service. His company, K&P Aviation LLC, wound up buying a Gulfstream GIII airplane from Air Logic Sales. He also hired Wallace's charter plane company, Air Logic Solutions, to house the plane and use it to operate charter flights.

According to the lawsuit, Wallace's sales company represented it was in good working order when in reality "the aircraft's maintenance condition was so deplorable that it would not pass the FAA's scrutiny to be placed in a passenger-carrying operation," K&P writes in one court document.

Wallace also used the plane on multiple occasions for personal use even after selling it to K&P, Patel alleges in his suit. Patel's attorney, Juan Serrano of Fort Lauderdale, could not be reached for comment. Patel also could not be reached.

Cohen acknowledged Wallace used Patel's plane but said the charter jet operation had a special provision that all of its members agreed upon.

The agreement said that if any member of the charter jet service was unable to use his plane because it was unavailable, the member could use another member's plane as long as he paid for its use. Wallace ultimately paid Patel $30,000 for his use of the plane, Cohen said.