POCATELLO — A 6th District judge recently awarded nearly $500,000 to Bannock County after finding a Boise-based concert promoter withheld concession sales revenue and failed to deliver on a promise to bring Kid Rock to the Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre last year.
Bannock County was awarded about $473,000 last month after filing a lawsuit against Go Out Local Inc. and its owner, Jonathan Segali, in May alleging breach of contract and fraud relating to a series of concerts held at the amphitheater last summer, according to court records the Idaho State Journal recently obtained.The lawsuit states that between January and June 2021, Bannock County and Go Out Local Inc. entered into agreements that called for Bannock County to receive a percentage of each ticket sold as well as a share of the net food and beverage revenue in exchange for Go Out Local being able to use the amphitheater.
Between May and October 2022, Go Out Local arranged for 19 shows to be performed at the amphitheater, which netted around 20,000 sold tickets, the county’s suit states.
Initially, Go Out Local told Bannock County that it received $264,023 in concession sales, but the county later learned that amount was actually about $373,750 after inspecting Go Out Local’s sales records, according to the suit.In a declaration in support of default judgment filed in July, Scott Crowther, Bannock County’s business manager and event director, said the initial amount of concession sales Go Out Local reported to Bannock County “felt low considering the turnout” so he and the county requested Go Out Local’s Square sales records. Square is an online financial software program that allows businesses to accept debit and credit card payments and use phones or tablets as registers.
After inspecting the Square records, Bannock County discovered that Go Out Local misrepresented the amount of concession sales by about $109,000, the suit states.
Additionally, Bannock County spent about $130,000 in immediate hard money expenditures provided to various vendors between May and October 2022 that Go Out Local was supposed to reimburse the county for according to the terms of the agreements, the county’s lawsuit stated.In total, Bannock County alleges Go Out Local withheld nearly $50,000 in ticket sales, about $37,000 in concession sales and the approximate $130,000 reimbursement for hard money expenditures, the suit states.
Further, the suit alleges that in May 2022, Segali approached the Bannock County Commissioners and informed them “that he could arrange to have Kid Rock play at the Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre.”
“To do so, however, Mr. Segali represented that he would need a $250,000 deposit prior to arranging for Kid Rock,” the suit alleges. “As part of the agreement for the $250,000 deposit, Mr. Segal states that, in the event he was unable to secure Kid Rock, the deposit would be returned in full.”
After Bannock County provided Segali and Go Out Local with the $250,000 deposit, the plan was to have Kid Rock perform at the amphitheater sometime in August 2022, the suit states.
“After numerous attempts to contact Mr. Segali, it became apparent that Kid Rock was not going to be performing at the Portneuf Health Trust Amphitheatre,” the county’s suit states. “This was further confirmed by staff for Go Out Local who informed Bannock County that Kid Rock would not be coming.”
Nonetheless, Bannock County never received its $250,000 deposit back, according to the suit.
Go Out Local and Segali were served with the lawsuit the day after it was filed on May 19, but never responded to it, court records show.
On July 3, Bannock County moved to have the judge handling the case, 6th District Judge Javier Gabiola, automatically award damages due to the lack of response. Default judgment was entered against Segali and Go Out Local in the amount of $473,676.04 on Aug. 11, according to court records.
On Sept. 7, Gabiola issued a writ of execution that directed the Ada County Sheriff’s Office to begin the process of taking possession of a home that Segali owns located at 1714 W. Bedford Drive in Boise to satisfy the outstanding balance owed to Bannock County, court records show.
Once the home’s deed is transferred to the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, it could then be transferred to Bannock County in-kind to satisfy the debt, but will more than likely be sold during a sheriff’s office auction with the funds from the sale being given to Bannock County to satisfy the debt.
According to the real estate website Zillow.com, Segali’s home on Bedford Drive has an estimated value of $448,600.
When reached on Tuesday regarding the lawsuit, Bannock County spokesperson Emma Iannacone deferred to the attorney handling the case on behalf of the county, Logan Haglund of Hall Angell & Associates in Idaho Falls.
The Journal then contacted Haglund who declined to comment.
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