Jackson, MS – November 7, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — A Carthage man has been sentenced to five years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections after pleading guilty to home repair fraud, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today.
Alvin Dennis Hall, 47, pleaded guilty to one felony count of home repair fraud. He was sentenced Monday by Judge William E. Chapman III in Madison County Circuit Court. Hall had contracted with a homeowner in Madison for the construction of a concrete slab, for which he was paid $10,000. The Attorney General’s investigation revealed that Hall did not do the work, despite the efforts of the homeowner to get him to. Finally, the homeowner hired and paid another contractor to do the job.
The sentencing order requires that Hall serve one year in prison, along with two more years for two unrelated felonies, after which he will be released on the condition that he pay full restitution. Hall will be on supervised probation for five years after his period of incarceration. In addition to the prison term, Hall was ordered to pay full restitution to the homeowner.
Hall was convicted under Mississippi’s home repair fraud statute, which provides criminal penalties for anyone who enters into a home repair contract and promises to do work which he or she does not intend to do or knows will not be done.
“It is sad to know the days are gone when you could just shake hands and make a gentleman’s agreement about your business,” said Attorney General Hood. “The best thing you can do in a case like this to protect yourself, and help us prosecute, is to lay out all of your terms in a signed contract.”
A model contract is available at http://www.agjimhood.com.
The case was investigated by Richie McCluskey and Bo Luckey and prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Alexander Kassoff of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.
Contact:
Jan Schaefer, Public Information Officer
601/359.2002
