Mountain Pure Sues Supplier for Selling Resin Mixed With Metal

John Stacks, as seen in the online video "Rampant Injustice."

John B. Stacks’ Mountain Pure is not going away quietly.

Even though the assets of the water bottling company were sold last year after a foreclosure auction on the steps of the Pulaski County Courthouse, Stacks retained control of the shell of the company.

So last week, Mountain Pure sued a former supplier for allegedly causing damage to Mountain Pure’s equipment and machinery.

Mountain Pure said that in December 2012 it bought resin from the company Ravago Americas LLC, which does business as Muehlstein of Orlando, Florida.

“The resin was contaminated with many foreign particles, including rocks, gravel and metal,” said the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Little Rock. The particles ruined Mountain Pure’s equipment and machinery, it said.

It said it has to spend more than $145,000 to repair the damage to the equipment, which caused orders to be delayed. That trickled down to its biggest customer canceling its order because Mountain Pure couldn’t deliver the shipment on time, the lawsuit said.

Mountain Pure said its lost profits as a result of the resin issue totaled more than $480,000. It is seeking more than $625,000 in damages for negligence.

We didn’t hear back from Muehlstein as of Thursday afternoon.

Stacks told Whispers that these days he’s waiting for an appeal to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to be finished.

If you recall, Stacks was convicted last year in U.S. District Court of seven felony counts related to a Small Business Administration loan he took out after his property in Van Buren County was hit by a tornado in May 2008. But in December, U.S. District Judge J. Leon Holmes issued an order acquitting him of two counts and ordering a new trial on the others.

In January, federal prosecutors filed an appeal in hopes of reinstating the convictions. That’s the appeal that is pending, and that’s why Stacks has continued his leave of absence as CEO of HomeBank of Arkansas.

“But we’re hopeful in the next few months that the 8th Circuit will affirm Judge Holmes’ decision,” he said.