A federal jury has convicted Patrick Britton-Harr, the founder of private jet charter startup AeroVanti, on multiple fraud charges tied to allegations that he stole millions from customers.
Britton-Harr, whose company operated flights out of Sarasota, was found guilty this week in the District of Maryland on six counts of wire fraud. According to the verdict, he faces up to 120 years in prison.
According to an article in Tampa Business Journal, Federal prosecutors accused Britton-Harr of stealing $15 million from customers by promising them members-only access to a fleet of private aircraft that prosecutors said AeroVanti never purchased.
An attorney for Britton-Harr did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Britton-Harr was separately indicted in May 2025 on multiple counts of health care fraud and one count of money laundering. That case involves allegations that he fraudulently billed Medicare for certain medical tests through Provista, another company he founded. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, that trial is scheduled to begin in October.
AeroVanti launched in 2021 with a pitch to make private aviation more affordable and accessible. The company raised millions in seed funding and at one point had ambitions of going public.
But the startup soon faced mounting legal problems. Multiple lawsuits accused Britton-Harr of misrepresenting investments and overstating the number of airworthy planes available to customers.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Baltimore Field Office and the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General. While AeroVanti was based in Maryland, its flight operations were connected to Sarasota.
