Home Remodeling Contractor Gets 9 To 23 Months In County Jail For Fleecing Three Homeowners Out Of Total Of $9K+ In Separate Incidents

In Norristown, Pennsylvania, the Daily Local reports:

• A West Norriton home remodeling contractor has a new roof over his head in the county jail after he admitted to fleecing customers in Douglass (Mont.), Plymouth and East Norriton.
  
  Aaron Michael Stead, 43, who listed a business address in the 500 block of Port Indian Road, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to nine to 23 months in the county jail, to be followed by five years’ probation, after he pleaded guilty to charges of theft by deception, deceptive business practices and home improvement fraud in connection with three incidents that occurred between December 2014 and June 2015.
  
  Judge Thomas P. Rogers also ordered Stead to pay a total of $9,689 in restitution to the three onetime customers he fleeced. Stead, who also listed an address in the 500 block of Kohn Street, Norristown, is eligible for the jail’s work release program during his incarceration. With the sentence Stead will be under court supervision for about seven years.
  
  The judge added that if Stead manages to pay restitution in full he will consider terminating Stead’s court supervision early.
  
  An investigation began when a Plymouth woman reported to police that she hired Stead’s roofing company to make repairs to the roof on her home along Millcreek Road in December 2014 and paid Stead $2,797, according to the criminal complaint.
  
  Stead initially told the homeowner “the weather was too cold to perform the work and he would have to wait for warmer weather,” according to the arrest affidavit filed by Plymouth Police Officer Joseph Epright.
  
  After waiting several months, and no work had begun, the homeowner contacted Stead in April and May 2015 and Stead offered various excuses including that he was having trouble obtaining supplies for the job or that he “was going through issues,” according to court papers. The homeowner’s request for the return of her initial deposit went unanswered by Stead, police alleged.
  
  Around the same time, a Douglass (Mont.) resident reported to local police that he paid $1,700 to Stead in April 2015 to complete a deck at his Marjessa Drive home. While Stead provided dates that the project would begin, he failed to show up to start the work and provided excuses to the victim as to why he was unable to start the job, according to the criminal complaint filed by Douglass (Mont.) Detective Corporal Robert Evans.
  
  In June 2015, a man residing along Stoney Creek Road in East Norriton reported to township police that he paid Stead $4,875 for home remodeling work that never was completed.
  
  “(The victim) related begin strung along by Stead for weeks,” East Norriton Detective Michael D. Henricks alleged in the criminal complaint. “(The victim) said nothing occurred and Stead later provided an excuse.”

Source: Roofer jailed for home improvement fraud.