Judge dismisses construction fraud lodged against NK man

A man who never completed repairs on a New Kent County resident’s home no longer faces felony construction fraud.

Judge Thomas B. Hoover agreed with a defense motion to strike the charge against Ras Joseph Nathan Fleming, 22, on Monday in New Kent Circuit Court.

In the contested trial, Commonwealth’s Attorney Linwood Gregory said that on a variety of dates from Feb. 3-Apr. 4 of last year Fleming was hired by Sharon Bey to do plumbing work at her residence on Olivet Church Road. Bey received a recommendation on Fleming’s services from his aunt.

While repairs started well, Bey testified that as time progressed Fleming began to slack off on his duties.

“At first I was told it was a week to complete the work,” she said. “As time went on I asked him when it would be completed.

“I’ve tried to call [Fleming] several times and I did not hear from him again until April 12 when I sent a certified letter to his mother’s house.”

Bey said she paid the defendant $1,510 for the work. The breaking point, she said, came when there were holes in drywall and no water connected to the home’s sink, refrigerator, and dishwasher.

Defense attorney Todd Duval argued that no scam or intent to take her money without doing proper maintenance existed in the matter.

“This is not a case where Fleming solicited Mrs. Bey,” said Duval. “This isn’t fraud. He simply did not finish the job.”

Duval said his client did not complete the work due to several other jobs that needed to be finished. Duval confirmed that his client would have finished the work if given the time. Bey, however, elected to hire someone else to complete the work.

“These types of cases arise when a person doesn’t have a license to do the work,” argued Gregory. “At this point, the evidence is a presumption that he had no intent of finishing the job.”

Duval motioned to strike the construction fraud charge, which Hoover agreed to based on a number of facts.

“He’s done part of the work,” said the judge. “He may have done shoddy work, but he’s done the work. All of this is a more of a civil suit, but this isn’t a criminal suit.”

Fleming, however, did receive a conviction for operating a business without a proper contractor’s license. He was fined $250 and received a 90-day suspended jail sentence.

In an unrelated matter, a Maryland man will spend the next year and a half in prison.

Juan Miguel Paz, 40, received a total of 20 years in prison with 18 years, six months suspended on two counts of distribution of cocaine.

Paz originally accepted a plea deal for the diversion and detention program in December, but after a background check, new information from a 1994 conviction upped the standards and state guidelines for sentencing, forcing postponement of sentencing.

Despite the new guidelines, Gregory recommended the year and a half to the court, which Hoover accepted. Paz also has to pay $625 in restitution to the Virginia State Police.