February 25, 2025

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice has been issued a garnishment summons to pay more than $3 million in debts owed to an Illinois-based creditor after the senator failed to repay a bond, court records show. The summons, issued on Jan. 28 by the United States District Court, Western District of Virginia, states that Justice owes $3,179,383.83 plus $101,369.69 in interests to Western Surety after he allegedly broke a contract with the insurance company. According to the initial filing from Western Surety from August 2024, the debt came after Justice’s Bluestone Resources Inc. and Southern Coal Corp. was ordered to pay more than $2.7 million, plus additional fees, following a judgment from May 2020 in the District Court of Dallas County Texas that ruled in favor of Texas-based financial service business First National Capital which claimed Bluestone breached an equipment lease contract. Following the ruling, Chicago-based Western Surety Company executed a supersedeas bond on behalf of Bluestone Resources Inc. worth more than $3 million to allow for Justice’s company to file an appeal. However, according to the attorney representing First National Capital, the appeals court affirmed the decision and dismissed Bluestone’s petition for review in 2023, thus requesting Western Surety to pay the bond penalty. Sen. Justice now has the option of making a based on the judgment, file a “written answer with the court” or appearing before the U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg, Virginia on March 28. The garnishment summons is the latest in the senator’s financial woes with reports from Forbes in January that estimates $1 billion in debts owed by Justice, as well as a decline in asset valuation. The former governor-turned-senator has faced several legal challenges regarding finances related to both his coal companies and the luxury resort, The Greenbrier, which is owned by the senator’s family. https://wchstv.com/news/local/court-issues-garnishment-summons-to-sen-jim-justice-for-3-million-in-debts