Attorney General's News Release

Augist 24, 2000

St. Louis home contractor given five years in prison after violating probation

Clayton, Mo. — A St. Louis man who pleaded guilty in April to criminal charges related to misrepresentations and shoddy work by his home remodeling business was sentenced to five years in prison after the St. Louis County Circuit Court revoked his probation.

Jeffrey Wolfson, who did business under the names Wolfson Construction and Wolfco Homes, violated the terms of his probation by failing to make a restitution payment of $6,602 as scheduled and by getting back into the home repair/remodeling business after being ordered by the court to stay out of the business. Wolfson, who also went by the name Rob Johnson, had been ordered by the court to pay total restitution of $264,080 over a five-year period, as well as pay $25,000 to the state over five years.

Attorney General Jay Nixon, who brought the original criminal charges, asked the court to revoke Wolfson's probation. Both the Attorney General's Office and the Better Business Bureau received many complaints about Wolfson Construction and Wolfco Homes, with individual consumer losses often exceeding $10,000.

Nixon said the business practices of Wolfson Construction included:

• Beginning construction or remodeling projects after taking sizable deposits, then failing to complete the project;
• Telling consumers that payments would be used to purchase materials when they were not;
• Misrepresenting their ability to perform a project or complete it in a timely manner in order to induce consumers to sign contracts, when on many occasions Wolfson knew that previous bounced checks and lack of credit with suppliers made it unlikely he could obtain supplies; and
• Performing work that did not comply with applicable building codes and knowing the work would not be approved by building inspectors

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to Press Secretary John Fougere.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818