(IRONTON, Ohio)—Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine today announced that the co-owner of All Seasons of Kentucky has been sentenced for her role in a scam that cost 35 Ohio victims more than $140,000.
Carol Richard was sentenced today in the Lawrence County Common Pleas Court to four years of community control and ordered to pay $143,426.98. In late September, she pleaded guilty to one count of attempted engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
Her husband, Leo Patrick Richard Jr., the primary operator of All Seasons, is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2015. In late September, he pleaded guilty to 36 felony counts, including attempted engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft, and theft from the elderly.
An investigation led by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office with extensive assistance from the Ironton Police Department and the Ohio Department of Insurance determined that All Seasons entered into contracts with homeowners in the Ironton area and failed to provide the agreed upon services.
The case was prosecuted by attorneys in the Ohio Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Unit, a division of the office’s Consumer Protection Section.
Attorney General DeWine created the Economic Crimes Unit in March 2011 to identify criminal conduct in consumer fraud cases and to assist Ohio’s prosecuting attorneys in holding scammers criminally accountable. To date, 88 people have been convicted of felonies as a result of investigations out of the unit.
Consumers whose homes have been damaged in a storm should beware of traveling contractors who offer to repair their homes and ask for their insurance money. Before making any payments, consumers should research a contractor by checking complaints on file with the Ohio Attorney General's Office and the Better Business Bureau, and by conducting a basic Internet search of the business.
Consumers who believe they have been treated unfairly should contact the Ohio Attorney General's Office at 800-282-0515 or www.OhioAttorneyGeneral.gov.
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