Mt. Pleasant contractor pleads guilty for work not performed

A Mt. Pleasant contractor will serve up to three years on probation for accepting payment for work he never performed.

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Scott Mears said Wednesday that penalty could be converted into a jail sentence unless at least $8,000 in restitution is paid by Sept. 1.

Timothy Jay King, 35, of Yukon, pleaded guilty to five felony charges including theft, receiving payment for services not rendered and deceptive business practices.

According to court records, police said King received a $12,000 payment from a Mt. Pleasant dentist for masonry work that was to be completed at his Main Street office in January 2020.

Investigators contend King was hired to install brick around 29 second-story windows of the building, repair two chimneys, repoint the rear exterior and seal a back corner of the building.

That work was never completed.

During the investigation, King’s lawyer gave police that a notarized statement that indicated brick and mortar material for the job was ordered and purchased from a Mt. Pleasant company but that King’s client refused to accept delivery of those items, according to court records.

King provided no receipts or proof of purchase for the materials, police said.

In addition to the probation term imposed Wednesday, the judge ordered King to serve one year on house arrest and pay a total of $12,000 in restitution. Once the restitution is paid the judge said he would reduce the probation sentence to two years.

The sentence, the judge said, was mitigated based on King’s promise to repay his victim.

Mears said he will revoke King’s probation and sentence him to serve at least six months in jail if $8,000 of the owed restitution is not paid by September.