Jackson, MS – January 28, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — A former Wiggins resident has been sentenced to prison time for home repair fraud and false pretense in Harrison County, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today.
Charles Lynn Reeder, 53, originally from Wiggins, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to one count of felony false pretense and one count of home repair fraud before Judge John Gargiulo in Harrison County Circuit Court. Reeder was sentenced to the maximum ten year sentence on the false pretense charge and five years for the home repair fraud charge with three years suspended, meaning he will serve 12 years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
The charges arose out of two separate cases involving Reeder’s company, ABC House Leveling and Home Maintenance, in which Reeder entered into agreements to perform construction work for two elderly victims to repair their Katrina damaged residences. In the false pretense case, Reeder lied to the victim about work he claimed he had performed. In the home repair fraud case, Reeder misled the victim by claiming he was a licensed and insured contractor, which he was not. He also performed a small amount of work which was not up to code.
Reeder was extradited to Mississippi from Missouri where he had served time as a result of three convictions of home repair fraud related charges.
“This defendant took advantage of folks in a most vulnerable moment,” said Attorney General Hood. “I appreciate Judge Gargiulo imposing a long sentence.”
The cases were prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Mark A. Ward and investigated by Investigators Kenny Allen, Ernest Taylor, Shannon Beaver, and Duncan Foster of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.
Contact:
Jan Schaefer, Public Information Officer
601/359.2002
