Hangar stake: Investment nightmare not over yet for NFL player

A lawsuit by an NFL player against his investment advisers that was settled months ago has come back to life. A federal judge has issued an arrest warrant for a businessman associated with the two advisers named in the suit. On June 22, Judge Lance M. Africk of U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana issued an arrest warrant for Bryce Karl, a businessman who worked with advisers Michael Rowan and Jason Jernigan. Mr. Karl was named in the original March 2010 complaint filed by San Diego Chargers wide out Craig “Buster” Davis, who sued the three over failed investments in airplane hangers. The parties to the action agreed to a compromise in February, according to court papers. The suit was reopened in June, however, with Mr. Davis requesting an appearance by Mr. Karl in court. According to court documents, Mr. Karl failed to comply with the earlier settlement agreement. In a separate issue, he ordered Mr. Karl to pay Mr. Davis $400,000. The football player met Mr. Rowan and Mr. Jernigan in 2007. They, in turn, introduced him to Mr. Karl, according to the lawsuit. After that introduction, Mr. Karl solicited the investment in Teton Air Ranch LLC, according to the lawsuit. Teton Air Ranch was a deal to develop property in Idaho in order to sell or lease airplane hangars, according to the lawsuit. Don Rouzan, listed as Mr. Karl's attorney in the case, said: “We don't have any comment on those matters at this time.” Mr. Karl, whose businesses attracted a number of NFL players as investors, said last year that he intended to pay the players their money back, according to SportsBusiness Journal. “I am a very hardworking, honest businessman who is trying to make a buck and I have done a good job of managing two companies through the worst economic downturn we have seen,” Mr. Karl said, according to the SportsBusiness Journal. In that interview Mr. Karl declined to give the exact number of NFL players who invested in two sets of deals, an oil and gas company and the airplane hanger ventures, but acknowledged it was numerous, according to the SportsBusiness Journal. According to that publication, other football players who invested with Mr. Karl included Mario Williams, JaMarcus Russell and Carne “Cadillac” Williams. Mr. Rowan founded Capital Management Group Wealth Advisors Inc., an investment firm located in High Point, N.C. Mr. Jernigan is a partner there. The pair had been sued by other NFL players over the illiquid investments. Alex Brown, defensive end for the New Orleans Saints, in September 2010 sued the two and Capital Management for almost $20 million in damages. The status of that suit is not clear. Meanwhile, George Jeter, a spokesman for the North Carolina Securities Division, declined to comment about a potential open case involving Capital Management. Harry Rosenberg, an attorney for Mr. Rowan with Phelps Dunbar LLP, was not immediately available Tuesday afternoon to comment. Andrew Lee, an attorney for Mr. Jernigan with Jones Walker, did not immediately return a phone call.