Chester County Contractor Who Ripped Off Customers Of Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars Sentenced To 2.5 To 10 Years In Prison
CHESTER COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) -- A Chester County contractor who admitted to taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in down payments meant for home renovations has been sentenced to two-and-a-half to ten years in prison. A Chester County Courthouse judge also ordered 41-year-old Michael Sheehan to pay back $446,294 in restitution.
Before the sentence, one victim told the judge she was out $90,000.
Sheehan admitted to ripping off 14 victims between 2017 and 2018.
Suzanne Smith says her family paid Sheehan $15,000 to upgrade her kitchen, but after Sheehan closed his Paoli showroom, she says she knew he was never coming back to do the work.
"It's just been extremely upsetting and frustrating. We're trusting people and we felt that we had done our due diligence. We had got estimates from other contractors. Mr. Sheehan seemed like the right choice for our renovation project and, ultimately, he stole from us," Smith said.
Another victim, Kaitlyn Zitzer, was in labor when she was pressured to give Sheehan a $12,000 deposit.
"We didn't want the project to get delayed. He was telling us he needed the money to do the project, so we dropped it off and he cashed it knowing he was going out of business," Zitzer said.
Zitzer told the judge it was supposed to be one of the happiest times of her life, but it felt like a nightmare.
"We were dealing with a brand new baby as first-time parents and he kind of took that moment from us," she said.
Zitzer eventually found a trustworthy contractor to upgrade her bathroom but she is still out $12,000.
Fourteen victims gave impact statements at Sheehan's sentencing.
CBS3's Matt Petrillo contributed to this report.
