Scammer Dodges Jail Time, Gets Probation, Agrees To Pay Full Restitution After Copping Guilty Plea (Finally? Almost 3 Year Later) To Pocketing $4,700 From 84-Year Old Homeowner For Roof Repairs, Then Failing To Buy Materials Or Perform Any Work

In Joplin, Missouri, The Joplin Globe reports:

• A rural Joplin man accused of exploiting an elderly woman on roof repairs pleaded guilty [] to a reduced charge and received a suspended sentence.
  
  Joshua L. Carpenter, 29, pleaded guilty in Jasper County Circuit Court to a misdemeanor offense of stealing in a plea deal with the prosecutor's office. He had been facing a felony count of financial exploitation of an elderly person.
  
  Circuit Judge Gayle Crane accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Carpenter to one year in jail, with execution of the sentence suspended and the defendant placed on supervised probation for two years. The judge also ordered that he pay $4,907.86 in restitution.
  
  A probable-cause affidavit alleged that Carpenter took $4,768.70 from an 84-year-old Joplin woman in April 2014 for roof repairs but never purchased any materials and never did any of the work.

Source: Defendant receives probation in elderly exploitation case. home improvement