Career
Early in his legal career, Roy worked for the State of Florida in Tallahassee as a Special Assistant Attorney General. He also worked as Assistant Trial Staff Counsel for the U.S. Labor Relations Board. During this period, Roy developed a very close working relationship with A. Jay Cristol who is now Senior Federal Judge of the Southern Federal Bankruptcy Court. After leaving Tallahassee, he became a chief lobbyist for the City of St. Petersburg, specializing in water rights and laws. Later, Roy was appointed Assistant State Attorney for Pinellas County by Governor Haydon Burns. He then practiced law with John DeVito and Elizabeth Kovachevich, who is now a highly respected Senior Federal Judge.
Roy soon grew restless with the practice of law and decided to apply his legal background to the world of business. He often commented that his legal background provided the foundation to build his business career. Roy established his first of many business partnerships with Estlon and JoAnn Pippin, experienced single-family homebuilders in Pasco County. They formed Tahitian Homes, Inc. and proceeded to build homes in western Pasco County. Later, Roy expanded his real estate development activities into a large multi-corporation company called Lanbanque, Inc. In order to supply utilities to his ever-expanding real estate projects, Roy and the Pippins established Aloha Utilities, Inc. which was the largest private water and sewer utility in Pasco County. During a slow-down in the real estate business, Roy spent three years in Europe, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait formulating TACET (Technology and Capital Exchange Trust).
Although his real estate development activities provided financial resources, Roy was not content to operate solely within this environment. Given a fertile mind and boundless energy, he pursued other fields of interest: growing vegetables in Puerto Rico; owning a beautician school, restaurants, lounges, a marina, marine dredging, data processing services, multi-level marketing of vitamins and cosmetics, cement block manufacturing, country-western music publishing and recording studios, telecommunications companies, a high-end boutique shop, general insurance agency, internet connection and data center, a walk-in medical clinic, wholesale gasoline and diesel fuel distribution operation, a travel agency, home security monitoring, mail order medical and diabetic supply company, a Big & Tall men's clothing store, an AM radio station, a mobile medical screening company, a book publishing company, a warehouse fulfillment and distribution company, an advertising media consulting firm, television stations, mobile home parks, a 225 room hotel in Nassau, Bahamas, a 500,000 square foot commercial warehouse complex in Las Vegas, and a five-star 23 story resort hotel and residences on Ft. Lauderdale Beach.
In early 1980, Roy formed U.S. Hydrocarbons Drilling and Development, Inc., and oil and gas drilling exploration operation in southeastern Texas. Within a few years the world market price of oil decreased drastically causing the business to fail. There were numerous Texas banks supported by Roy's personal guarantee. The banks forced him into bankruptcy. Over the next four years Roy successfully emerged from bankruptcy with all unpaid claims fully satisfied.
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