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Thursday, May 6, 2004 12:00 AM
Contractor in Cuffs 5/06/04
As the weather gets warmer...if you don't already have a deck on your house, you probably want one. A Glenville couple did — but says a contractor scammed them out of thousands instead. Our I-Team was there when Glenville Police put the cuffs on him: Leonard Neal/Contractor: "I don't want them people here..." Amy: "Mister Neal, what do you have to say about this charge?" Contractor Leonard Neal turned himself in to Glenville Police — after he learned they were looking for him. Amy: "All these people want to know where there money is. Where is it?" A judge arraigned Neal for scheming to defraud in the first degree — a felony. And he may not have had a lot to say... Amy "Did you do this?" ...but the Glenville woman he's accused of ripping off sure did. Robin Gagnon/Glenville: "He's a thief and he's an awful person." Robin Gagnon and her husband hired Len's Remodeling to build a deck connecting their house and pool. Robin Gagnon/Glenville: "He said he was a disabled veteran...and he's struggling and he needs help. My husband being an active duty marine we kind of had pity on him." Neal estimated the job would cost 5260 dollars. So Gagnon and her husband gave him half of that, 2630, for wood. Robin Gagnon/Glenville: "He cashed the check the very next day and then he was gone. I couldn't find him..." The couple documented it all on this home video: Robin Gagnon on home video: "This is the only material that Len has bought with our 2,630 dollars." And they soon learned from Schenectady's Consumer watchdog, Doug Briggs, that they were far from alone. Doug Briggs/Schenectady Co. Consumer Affairs: "He doesn't know what he's doing. He shouldn't even be in the contracting business." Briggs has 11 complaints about Neal...from Schenectady, Albany, and Saratoga Counties totaling almost 20-thousand dollars. Some consumers won judgments against him, but he hasn't paid. Doug Briggs: "This kind of individual just needs to be put out. It's as simple as that." Gagnon says she doesn't think she'll ever see her money again. And she called in a new builder, Gerald Flynn, to fix the one thing Neal did do. Robin Gagnon on home video: "Gasps....there's no concrete in it." Neal filled the footings with wood and rock instead — to cut costs. Robin's husband on home video: "My kids were going to go on this deck, that son of a — — ." Gerald Flynn/New Builder: "All of a sudden a deck that usually holds six people, they have a party they have 20 people on there...the deck can collapse." Gagnon wants other consumers to watch out for these dangers — and to do what she didn't: check your contractor out before you give him money. As for Neal, she wants the court to throw the book at him. Robin Gagnon/Glenville: "He kept telling me though when he called me...he was crying and saying he was sorry and he wants to do it right again and he's been praying to God. I think you need to pray a little bit harder Len." Leonard Neal was released and is due back in court on Tuesday. Schenectady County's Doug Briggs is asking the Attorney General to push for an injunction against Neal....that would stop him from working as a contractor. Briggs also reminds consumers that contractors must deposit all payments received before a job is done in an escrow account. And they must do that within five days of receiving the money.
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A Subscription to Scam? 5/25/05
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