Attorney General's News Release

June 11, 2008

St. Louis home repair contractor found guilty on two counts consumer fraud on charges brought by Nixon

St. Louis, Mo. - A home repair contractor from St. Louis was found guilty today on two counts of felony unlawful merchandising practices for defrauding one of his customers. Thomas Mark Hogan (DOB - 3/6/50), already on probation after pleading guilty to seven counts of consumer fraud in St. Louis County in 2006, was found guilty after a jury trial in St. Louis City. The case was prosecuted by the office of Attorney General Jay Nixon.

Hogan is scheduled to be sentenced on today's convictions by Circuit Judge Donald McCullin on July 25, 2008. Unlawful merchandising practices is a class D felony under Missouri law, punishable by up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

At the request of Nixon, Hogan was indicted by the St. Louis City grand jury in 2006 after telling a consumer that he would do specific home repair work for an advance fee even though he had no intention of doing the work for which he was paid. The work included replacing a kitchen floor and painting the exterior of the consumer's house.

Hogan is currently on probation after pleading guilty in May 2006 to a seven-count indictment of unlawful merchandising practices returned by a St. Louis County grand jury. The indictment was also returned at Nixon's request. Hogan received five years of supervised probation and ordered to pay $64,133 in restitution to 11 consumers he defrauded. To date, Hogan still owes more than $62,000 in consumer restitution.

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