Past Ventures

Cross Bay Marine and Sea Tow

A physical therapist sold his home on the North Fork, moved to Apollo Beach, and built a boat-towing business around a Sea Tow deal that never closed. This page collects what the news coverage and the court filings say, with a link to every source.

From the public record · Tampa Bay, 2021 to 2026 · Sources: WTSP 10 Tampa Bay · E.D.N.Y. 2:20-cv-02877 · M.D. Fla. 8:26-mc-00008 & -00009

The broadcast

Florida man loses business after someone hijacks his company

WTSP's report on how Cross Bay Marine was taken over through an annual report filed on Sunbiz, the state's online business registry.

How to read this page

Sworn statement entries are Dr. L'Hommedieu's own declarations, filed under penalty of perjury. They are his account, not findings by any court, and Sea Tow and its principals have not been found liable for any of it.

Court record entries come from orders or dockets. Press entries come from published news coverage.

What happened, in order

Nov 11, 2019
Court record
Sea Tow appoints Tampa Bay Marine Recovery, Inc., owned by Erich Jaeger, to serve Sea Tow customers in the Tampa Bay area. This is the territory at the center of the federal case, and the same territory later offered to Dr. L’Hommedieu.
E.D.N.Y. 2:20-cv-02877 · Doc. 75 (Feb. 1, 2021), background
Jun 29, 2020
Court record
Sea Tow Services International sues the Jaegers, their company, and the prior franchise owners in the Eastern District of New York.
E.D.N.Y. 2:20-cv-02877 · Doc. 1
Mid-2021
Sworn statement
Per his declaration, Joseph J. Frohnhoefer III and Kristen Frohnhoefer, acquaintances of nearly thirty years, approach him about buying into the Sea Tow Tampa Bay opportunity, with term sheets describing it as a franchise.
M.D. Fla. 8:26-mc-00008 · Doc. 12, p. 3
May 21, 2021
Sworn statement
He incorporates Cross Bay Marine, Inc. as sole officer, director, and shareholder, formed to provide towing and salvage to Sea Tow Tampa Bay while the acquisition was negotiated.
M.D. Fla. 8:26-mc-00008 · Doc. 12, p. 4
Sep 2021
Sworn statement
He leaves federal employment, sells the family home in Southold, New York, and moves with his wife Karen to Apollo Beach, Florida, investing cash and equipment, including a 2019 RAM 2500, before receiving deal documents.
M.D. Fla. 8:26-mc-00008 · Doc. 12, pp. 3–4
Early Mar 2022
Sworn statement
He declines to proceed, citing a minimal ownership stake, a negative-cash-flow plan, a price never independently appraised, a full personal guarantee, and terms that differed from the recruitment promises.
M.D. Fla. 8:26-mc-00008 · Doc. 12, pp. 4–5
Mar 21, 2022
Sworn statement
An annual report is filed on Sunbiz for Cross Bay Marine removing him and listing the Frohnhoefers as officers. He states he never authorized it and that neither ever held any role in the company.
M.D. Fla. 8:26-mc-00008 · Doc. 12, pp. 4–5
Mar 23, 2022
Sworn statement
Per the declaration, two Twin Vee vessels move out of Cross Bay Marine to Sea Tow Services International and then to H2Fro, Inc. the same day. The truck is later retitled in New York. He states he consented to none of it.
M.D. Fla. 8:26-mc-00008 · Doc. 12, p. 5
Jun 10, 2022
Sworn statement
A Hillsborough County deputy responds to a stolen-boat call about a vessel titled in his personal name. The deputy’s narrative, attached as an exhibit, records Sea Tow’s then general manager saying the boat technically belonged to Russ.
HCSO Street Check SC# HS 2022-20927 · Exh. A to M.D. Fla. 8:26-mc-00008 Doc. 13
May 17, 2023
Press
WTSP 10 Tampa Bay airs his story. He describes contacting the sheriff, Tampa police, the FBI, and FDLE, and being told it was a civil matter. He says he later used legal help to get the company transferred back to his name.
WTSP · “Florida businesses being stolen off of Sunbiz website”
Feb 2026
Court record
Sea Tow subpoenas Dr. and Mrs. L’Hommedieu as non-parties in the Jaeger case. On Feb. 25, Magistrate Judge Locke authorizes four more non-party depositions while preserving each recipient’s right to object in the proper court.
E.D.N.Y. 2:20-cv-02877 · DE 314 (Feb. 25, 2026)
Mar 11, 2026
Court record
Appearing without counsel, the L’Hommedieus move to quash the subpoenas in the Middle District of Florida and file supporting declarations.
M.D. Fla. 8:26-mc-00008-KKM-NHA · 8:26-mc-00009-SDM-TGW
Jul 2026
Court record
Russ and Karen eventually retain counsel. Fact discovery in the Jaeger case closes. Neither Russ nor Karen L’Hommedieu was ever deposed.
E.D.N.Y. 2:20-cv-02877 · docket

The Jaeger case

Caption: Sea Tow Services International, Inc. v. Tampa Bay Marine Recovery, Inc., et al.
Court: U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York
Case no.: 2:20-cv-02877-WFK-SIL
Filed: June 29, 2020 · Contract: Marine
Defendants: Tampa Bay Marine Recovery, Inc.; Erich & Abigail Jaeger. The Moreno defendants, TBMT, and Preferred Brands were dismissed by stipulation in March 2026.
Third-party: The Jaegers’ third-party claims name Mitchell A. Stein and Joseph J. Frohnhoefer III.
Judges: Senior Judge William F. Kuntz II; Magistrate Judge Steven I. Locke. Earlier rulings by Judge Joanna Seybert.

Key ruling · ECF 216 · Sept. 30, 2022 · Judge Seybert

The Management Agreement's payment structure “fits comfortably within” New York's definition of a franchise fee.

The Jaegers' §683 claims under the New York Franchise Sales Act survived, along with their Florida claims and third-party claims against Stein and Frohnhoefer III personally.
Their §687 fraud count was dismissed.
The Jaegers are defending the suit and pressing those counterclaims. Nothing in this case has reached a final judgment.

E.D.N.Y. 2:20-cv-02877 · Doc. 216 · Filed 09/30/22 · PageID 7741 ff.

Dr. L'Hommedieu is not a party. His link to this case is the Tampa Bay territory and the 2026 non-party subpoenas. Neither he nor Karen was ever deposed.

Every public link

PACER only: M.D. Fla. motions to quash, 8:26-mc-00008-KKM-NHA and 8:26-mc-00009-SDM-TGW. No free copy found.

Also following this case

Hornswaggled

If you want to follow this case as it moves, this is where I send people. Hornswaggled is an anonymous skallywag of a newsletter that flies no name from its mast. It tracks the Jaeger docket filing by filing and cites the record down to the document and page number. The voice is pure pirate satire, but the citations hold up, and you can check every one of them on PACER.

Visit Hornswaggled

Allegations in sworn declarations and pleadings are not findings. All parties dispute or may dispute these accounts and retain every right to respond. Court documents can be verified on PACER under the case numbers above. Nothing here is legal advice.