NORWICH – A Coventry contractor was sentenced to prison Friday after admitting he stole thousands from home improvement projects and then jumped bail while being prosecuted for the crimes.
Joseph N. Wright, 37, of Greene, had pleaded guilty to third degree grand larceny, second degree forgery and second degree bail jumping, all felonies, and was sentenced to four to 12 years in state prison Friday by acting Chenango County Supreme Court Justice Donald Cerio.
“Mr. Wright was one of our local contractors who was in the habit of going to elderly people and taking substantial sums for their money without doing the work,” said District Attorney Joseph McBride.
The DA said two of the victims were 70 and 93 years old. McBride said another victim in the case still had their home exposed to the elements because they couldn’t afford to pay another contractor to complete the work.
“The defendant just didn’t rip-off the cash, the victims were left out of pocket and couldn’t afford to hire another contractor to complete work on their homes,” said McBride.
One of the charges Wright pleaded guilty to was a 1995 forgery charge in which he admitted to signing an ex-girlfriend’s personal check so he could buy a $175 puppy.
After failing to appear for court, an arrest warrant was issued and lingered over Wright for 14 years, until he was arrested in February of 2009 on unrelated charges.
The Chenango County Sheriff’s Office arrested Wright on charges of felony larceny after an investigation claimed he took money from area residents through contracting business and failed to deposit the money in an escrow account.
Following his February 2009 arrest, Wright again posted $2,000 cash bail and again failed to appear back in court.
McBride said Wright fled after violating an order to halt his contracting work until his pending criminal cases could be heard in court.
Wright told the judge he had continued to finish up some left over work despite the court’s orders and was aware he would be placed back in jail if he returned for his appearance.
Wright pleaded guilty to second degree bail jumping after he failed to return to court on Aug. 12, 2009.
He also pleaded guilty grand larceny saying he entered into a $23,000 home improvement job between April 16 and May 2008. Wright said he kept the final $3,000 without finishing the work.
Defense Attorney Paul Tomkins of Binghamton told the judge his client suffered from a gambling problem.
Though pleading guilty to only three charges, Wright agreed to pay restitution in a number of other cases as part of his agreement.
New York State Law requires that contractors hold paid amounts in an escrow account while work is in progress. Sheriff’s Lt. Richard Cobb said Wright’s business, Wright Construction, took more than $32,944 from at least five different victims.