A Washington County man has pleaded guilty in Allegheny County Court to bilking 16 Pittsburgh area victims out of hundreds of thousands of dollars through uncompleted construction projects and payments owed to subcontractors and suppliers.
Daniel Michael Bull, 39, of Washington pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of theft by deception, six counts of theft by failure to make required disposition, five counts of deceptive business practices, two counts of home improvement fraud and one count of identity theft.
In exchange for the plea, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office agreed to withdraw charges of forgery and dealing in the proceeds of illegal activity.
Judge Elliot Howsie sentenced Bull to three to six years in state prison followed by two years of probation.
He also was ordered to pay more than $400,000 in restitution to the victims.
In court documents, Kevin Flanigan, a detective with the district attorney’s office and a certified public accountant, listed two Oakmont property owners among victims in the case. The pair contracted with Bull in February 2018 to build a home for them but eventually terminated the contract because of problems with the defendant.
According to Flanigan, the owners received calls from subcontractors on the job reporting that they hadn’t been paid. Court documents indicate Bull failed to pay subcontractors and suppliers about $56,500 he’d received from the Oakmont owners for that purpose.
Flanigan said the owners incurred more than $156,000 in expenses due to a mold problem attributed to an unfinished roof on the home. The roofing subcontractor was among parties that stop work for not being paid, the court documents note.
Bull received more than $164,000 from the owners for work on the Oakmont home but did not provide the promised services or materials, Flanigan said.
Bull owed a total of more than $530,000 collectively to 20 subcontractors and vendors, court documents state.
Bull engaged in check kiting and funneled money he received from his victims to personal accounts belonging to himself or his wife, according to Flanigan.
