Former Latitude 360 CEO pleads not guilty to 17 counts of failing to pay employees’ federal income

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Brent Brown, a former Jacksonville businessman went before a federal judge in Jacksonville Wednesday for his arraignment hearing.

Brown is the former CEO of Latitude 360, an entertainment complex that was once in Jacksonville.

Brown has been indicted on 17 counts of failing to pay federal income taxes deducted from his employees. In total, that’s almost $1.2 million dollars in unpaid taxes.

Back in 2017, Action News Jax reported on a warrant out for Brown’s arrest on a felony “theft of services” charge and 33 “bad checks” charges. That came months after Brown’s business shut down in Jacksonville and Indianapolis.

In 2017, Action News Jax found a criminal complaint against Brown alleging that he owed employees in his Pittsburgh location nearly $19,000 dollars. Latitude 360 employees in Jacksonville reached out to Action News Jax saying their checks frequently bounced.

In federal court Wednesday, Brown pleaded not guilty to the 17 counts. Action News Jax caught up with him and his attorney after the hearing. When asked for comment, Brown’s attorney replied, “not unless you ask the smart questions,” and added, “I have never talked about a pending case in my career and I am not starting that now, okay? It’s just that simple.”

In court, an attorney for the federal government said Brown could face a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison for each of the 17 counts against him. If convicted on all counts, Brown’s maximum penalty would be 85 years behind bars.

Brown is set to appear in court again on March 21 for his status conference hearing at 3:30 p.m.

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