For the second year, Deer Creek Days revelers won't be able to quench their thirst or buy a pack of smokes at JJ's General Store.

The Glenrock store's demise in July 2008 remains the center of a Converse County civil lawsuit pitting the former owners against the buyer, who is related to and allegedly financed by a former Casper man under federal indictment in Utah.

Robert and Jeanine Beagle will take their case against store buyer James Todd Huff in Converse County District Court in Douglas on Dec. 14, according to an order by District Judge John Brooks.

The case started in February 2007 when the Beagles agreed to sell JJ's and its contents - total value of $690,000 - to Huff, who was to put up two rental properties in Casper as collateral, maintain the store's condition, and name the Beagles as the insured on the policy insuring the premises, according to the complaint filed in October by their attorney Patrick Holscher of Casper.

The complaint states that Huff failed to meet his end of the bargain, so the Beagles have sued him for breach of contract

Huff responded that the Beagles themselves breached the contract, and that he had made all payments to the Beagles who rejected the financing obtained by Huff, his attorney Jeff Meyer of Casper wrote in November.

Huff tried to obtain financing through Founders Capital Investments LLC, which is one of the companies under the control of Claud Roderick "Rick" Koerber. Huff, a Casper resident, is Koerber's cousin.

In 2000, the Wyoming Securities Division issued a cease and desist order against Koerber and National Business Solutions for violating the state's securities laws. Since then, Koerber moved to Utah, began a radio show called Free Capitalist, started a number of real estate investment businesses including Founders Capital and FranklinSquires, and has been sued by unhappy investors.

The Beagles noted Koerber's legal woes in court filings.

That was before a federal grand jury indicted Koerber in May for allegedly running a $100 million Ponzi scheme in Utah.

Koerber has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion from 2004 through 2008 with companies called Founders Capital, FranklinSquires and related firms.

The federal court set a status conference for Aug. 31 but has did not set a trial date.

The Beagles and Huff have filed papers identifying the people they may call as witnesses for the civil trial.

Among the potential witnesses, the Beagles may call Koerber, a management company for Koerber's Founders Capital, his business associates, people who know about his financial activities and real estate investments, and an investigator for Utah's Division of Securities, according to their first witness designation list.

However, Huff did not list Koerber or any of his business associates as witnesses.

Reach Tom Morton at (307) 266-0592, or at tom.morton@trib.com. Read his blog at tribtown.trib.com/TomMorton/blog.