S.C. Judge Holds State Senator In Contempt of Court

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

by JENN WOOD

***

A Greenville County, South Carolina judge has formally held state senator Josh Kimbrell and his wife, Liliya Kimbrell, in contempt of court – ruling that both violated court orders in a long-running Exodus Aircraft civil fraud case.

The judge ordered immediate monetary sanctions, document production and potential daily fines if the Kimbrells failed to comply.

The 23-page order (.pdf) – signed Thursday (March 12, 2026) by S.C. circuit court judge Vernon Dunbar – follows a December contempt hearing in which the Kimbrells notably failed to appear. During that hearing, plaintiffs accused them of deleting emails, withholding corporate records, and continuing to interfere with company operations despite a temporary restraining order and later consent injunction.

Dunbar concluded plaintiffs proved by clear and convincing evidence that the Kimbrells willfully violated multiple provisions of both the July 2025 temporary restraining order and the later preliminary injunction.

***

COURT FINDS EMAIL DELETIONS WERE CONTEMPT

At the center of Dunbar’s ruling was the determination that Josh and Liliya Kimbrell deleted and transferred thousands of emails after they were legally bound by the court’s orders.

Although the judge stopped short of finding contempt for deletions occurring before formal service of the TRO on July 14, 2025, he found the defendants clearly violated court orders by continuing to delete and transfer emails from July 14 through August 2, 2025.

The court specifically found:

• Josh Kimbrell forwarded confidential Exodus financial records to his personal email the same day he signed the preliminary injunction.
• He later sent a 2024 Exodus profit-and-loss statement to a third party, then deleted that communication.
• Emails containing invoices and corporate financial obligations were deleted rather than forwarded to Exodus management.

Judge Dunbar found those actions directly interfered with the transition of company control and contributed to Exodus discovering roughly $600,000 in unpaid obligations after management shifted.

***

RELATED | JOSH KIMBRELL COURT DRAMA

***

SANCTIONS ORDERED — MORE MAY BE COMING

The court ordered the Kimbrells to pay $9,268.75 to reimburse plaintiffs for forensic expert costs incurred proving the violations. That payment must be made within 30 days.

Dunbar also ordered plaintiffs’ counsel to submit an attorney-fee affidavit within ten days — signaling additional financial sanctions are likely forthcoming once legal fees are reviewed.

Just as significantly, the court ordered the Kimbrells to turn over all previously requested documents within thirty days. If they fail to do so, the order imposes a $250-per-day fine until compliance is achieved.

Dunbar also directly addressed the Kimbrells’ failure to appear at the December hearing — rejecting defense arguments that attendance was unnecessary because they were not subpoenaed.

The order stated the defendants had timely, proper, and adequate notice of the hearing, failed to request a continuance, and offered no legally valid excuse for their absence. The judge wrote their explanation that they were “not under subpoena” was “not legally viable, persuasive or applicable.”

That finding reinforced arguments plaintiffs made at the hearing that the absence itself prejudiced their ability to call both Josh and Liliya Kimbrell as witnesses.

***

RELATED | SENATOR HIT WITH CONTEMPT ALLEGATIONS

***

NOT EVERY PLAINTIFF ARGUMENT WON

The order was not a complete victory for Frank Rogers, Kimbrell’s former partner at Exodus.

Judge Dunbar declined to hold Kimbrell in contempt over several issues plaintiffs had pressed aggressively at hearing:

• He found Kimbrell’s early communications with vendors and customers before formal service did not clearly violate TRO provisions.
• He ruled the attempted Delaware dissolution paperwork was too ambiguous to constitute contempt because no filing was ever completed.
• He rejected plaintiffs’ claim that Kimbrell’s FITSForum op-ed and Facebook video violated the injunction, finding those statements protected by First Amendment considerations because they addressed public matters tied to his gubernatorial candidacy.

That portion of the ruling removes one of the more politically charged arguments plaintiffs raised during the December hearing.

The contempt order lands just days after another consent order in the case postponed a scheduled motion-to-compel hearing after defense counsel represented that discovery responses would finally be produced by March 27, 2026.

Under that agreement, Josh and Liliya Kimbrell must now provide complete interrogatory responses and document production by that deadline — meaning the contempt ruling and pending discovery obligations are now converging.

***

WHY THIS MATTERS POLITICALLY

For Kimbrell, the ruling marks the first formal judicial finding that he violated court orders in a case he has repeatedly described as politically motivated “lawfare.”

Until now, the senator’s public defense rested heavily on arguing the accusations were exaggerated, politically timed, and driven by business hostility after he launched his gubernatorial campaign.

Judge Dunbar’s order does not resolve the broader fraud allegations still pending in the case — nor does it decide the separate effort to expand the complaint against additional financial actors — but it does establish a court finding that Kimbrell and his wife engaged in contemptible conduct after the lawsuit began.

That is no longer merely an allegation from opposing counsel.

It is now part of the court record.

***

THE ORDER

***

ABOUT THE AUTHOR …

As a private investigator turned journalist, Jenn Wood brings a unique skill set to FITSNews as its research director. Known for her meticulous sourcing and victim-centered approach, she helps shape the newsroom’s most complex investigative stories while producing the FITSFiles and Cheer Incorporated podcasts. Jenn lives in South Carolina with her family, where her work continues to spotlight truth, accountability, and justice.

***

WANNA SOUND OFF?

Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to address proactively? We have an open microphone policy! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.