Pennsylvania Judge Tacks On Add'l 6 To 60 Months To Prison Time Currently Being Served By Sleazy Window Contractor For Ripping Off Homeowners By Pocketing Deposits, Then Stiffing Them Out Of Services; Latest Jury Rejected Scammer's 'It's Not A Crime, Just A Civil Matter' Defense; Charges Remain Pending In At Least Seven Other Counties

In Snyder County, Pennsylvania, PennLive reports:

• A contractor who has charges of deceptive business practice and theft by deception pending in at least seven other counties, including Dauphin, has been sentenced in Snyder County to up to five years in state prison.
  
  The sentence of six months to five years imposed [] on Robert Kolovich, 58, will run consecutively to the 11½- to 23-month term imposed in September in Bradford County.
  
  A Snyder County jury in April had found him guilty of four counts of theft and two of deceptive business practices. The defense contended it was a civil matter, not criminal.
  
  Senior Judge Louise O. Knight ordered Kolovich, who has charges pending in Centre, Lycoming, Luzerne, Mifflin, Northumberland and Susquehanna counties besides Dauphin, to pay restitution of $11,600.
  
  He settled charges in Tioga and Sullivan counties and his case in York County is marked inactive.
  
  Kolovich has been accused in the various counties of defrauding customers of his former Lifetime Choice Windows by signing contracts and accepting down payments but not doing the work or issuing refunds.
  
  Reasons he provided for not doing the work have included, according to court documents, problems with a supplier, weather, illness and injuries.
  
  "Kolovich has damaged many, many lives by taking these folks' money without any intention of doing the work he contracted to do for them," Snyder County District Attorney Michael Piecuch said.
  
  "I'm disappointed that he still refuses to acknowledge any culpability for his crimes, but this sentence will give him time to reflect on that. And he'll be somewhere he can't victimize others."
  
  Kolovich is awaiting trial in Dauphin County in two cases in which he is charged with theft by deception. He also is charged with deceptive business practices in one of them.

Source: Contractor facing charges in seven counties sentenced to state prison.