RAMONA, Calif. -- A Ramona, Calif., gas station that is co-owned by James Kurtenbach, who is serving 15 years and eight months in prison for arson, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from debtors, reported The Ramona Sentinel. The Stars Gas Station will remain open, said attorney Jackie Robert Geller, who represents Stars Petroleum Inc., owned by Kurtenbach, 49, and his ex-wife, Theresa Kurtenbach.
"We filed Chapter 11 to keep the doors open," Geller told the newspaper. "Chapter 11 allows businesses to stay open while it reorganizes its debt."
The [image-nocss] filing in U.S. District Court Bankruptcy Court in downtown San Diego occurred on November 4, 2010.
The case is still pending without a resolution date before a bankruptcy judge, said the report. A status conference is set for March 30.
Kurtenbach was sentenced December 21 in state prison by El Cajon Superior Court Judge Herbert Exarhos. A jury convicted Kurtenbach October 12 of arson, insurance fraud, vandalism and using an incendiary device to destroy his vacant home in Ramona on October 31, 2008.
Jurors deadlocked 7 to 5 for conviction of second-degree murder in the death of his longtime employee Joseph Nesheiwat, 24, of Ramona. The district attorney's office decided not to retry Kurtenbach for murder, and the charge was dismissed, the report said.
The bankruptcy petition lists the top debts as the State Board of Equalization for unpaid sales and fuel taxes in the amount of $1.14 million, according to the report.
A state court judgment against Kurtenbach for $150,000 by Exxon Mobil Corp. is listed along with a Nebraska court judgment of $140,000 by the BCB Petroleum Co.
In a statement of financial affairs, the station had a net loss of $102,657 in 2009, and a loss of $179,060 from January 1 to September 30, 2010. The Stars Gas Station opened on June 7, 2001.
The station lists $92,700 in legal expenses still owed; of that, $10,000 is owed to Kurtenbach's first two criminal defense attorneys.
The bankruptcy filing is only for the station and not Kurtenbach himself. Kurtenbach was jailed following the jury's verdict.
His ex-wife submitted a December 7 statement that said, "I have recently taken over the day-to-day operation of the business due to the incarceration of its previous manager."
Customer accounts owe the company $169,319 as of the filing date, said the report.
Its assets include machinery, pumps, transportation equipment, fuel and merchandise in the amount of $460,646. The firm's creditors have already received notices sent by the bankruptcy court.
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