DA: Contractor used stolen money to post bail

Aug. 22--SALEM -- A prosecutor on Friday called an unlicensed home improvement contractor "the smoothest and most slick individual" he has ever come across, and said investigators believe that even the money the man's wife posted last month for his bail was stolen.

Even so, Salem Superior Court Judge Timothy Feeley continued to refuse to set the bail for Jaime Ford as high as the district attorney's office wanted -- $250,000 -- saying he doesn't believe Ford has the financial resources to flee. Feeley set bail at $15,000.

Ford, 46, who recently moved from Middleton to Newburyport, pleaded not guilty to an 80-count indictment Friday that charged him with a range of criminal activity, including being a common and notorious thief, identity fraud, larceny, forgery, workers compensation and insurance fraud, as well as environmental violations.

Last month Feeley had slashed Ford's bail from $750,000 to $7,500 after his lawyer said that was all Ford's family could afford.

Ford, whose wife posted the bail shortly after that hearing, was put back into custody Friday until the additional bail set by the judge is posted. His new attorney, Carmine Lepore, said he did not know when or if that will happen.

New details about Ford's alleged crimes emerged during a bail hearing and from court documents in which prosecutor Philip Mallard and state police Trooper Steve Buccheri revealed that the $7,500 Ford's wife used to post his bail in the case actually came from a check meant to pay a subcontractor on a project.

One of Ford's alleged victims, a Stoneham woman, had given him an $8,000 check to pay a subcontractor, a day before Ford was arrested, Mallard told the judge. Instead, said the prosecutor, Ford and his wife, in recorded phone calls from the Middleton Jail, discussed her using that check to pay Ford's bail.

The judge was not convinced, suggesting instead that it actually shows how close to the edge Ford was living financially, and that he lacks the funds to flee.

At one point Feeley asked Mallard if investigators are aware of hidden funds, "so he can pull a Whitey Bulger and roam the country for years?"

"It takes some wherewithal to do that, to become a fugitive for life," suggested the judge.

Families present

Two families who were among those allegedly victimized by Ford were in court Friday, including 83-year-old Gloria Lilja of Beverly, whose Chipman Road home was essentially left a shell after she hired Ford to work on it.

Details of what happened to a North Andover couple who hired Ford to repair flood damage to their condo emerged as well.

Adam and Kendall Ellard paid Ford more than $40,000 to make the repairs. Prosecutors say Ford then forged a building permit application, and turned what he had originally told the couple would only be a two-week job into a four-month project.

After the couple's insurance to pay for a hotel ran out, they were forced to move, along with their young daughter, into a family member's basement.

Other victims from around the state were left with structurally unsound, uninhabitable homes, prosecutors allege.

Close to home

Ford's victims also include his own brother and father, investigators said.

Ford has been charged with making false workers' compensation claims against his brother's Woburn demolition business, and also of essentially stealing the identity of both his brother's and his father's companies to set up what Mallard called "parallel shops."

Ford stole a box of checks from his brother and printed business cards, soliciting business by claiming to work for his brother's firm, even going so far as to set up a phony Web site under his brother's name, the prosecutor said.

He also used the name of his father's business in a similar scheme, prosecutors allege. Both family members are now potentially liable for taxes on the income that the scheme generated, even though they did not see a dime of the money.

And to further his scheme, Ford frequently used a story that would elicit sympathy and patience: he would tell customers that his wife had died.

He also used the story of a dead wife to convince the administrators of Thumbtack, a website where contractors can look for customers, to take down a negative review. Not only did Ford claim he never worked for the reviewer, but "MY 42 YEAR OLD WIFE DIED! UNEXPECTEDLY!"

"The negative review was removed," Mallard wrote. "His wife, however, remains alive."

Ford was also not above generating business with other claims.

In one of his ads, for his entity called "JFA Services," he claimed that the business was owned by a "20-year" military veteran, that it was "putting the troops back to work," and that a percentage of his profits were being donated to breast cancer and pancreatic illness research.

None of that is true, said the prosecutor.

Mallard argued that even if Ford is currently having cash-flow problems, his history shows "he has no trouble getting money. He's a salesman par excellence."

The prosecutor expressed concern that Ford, if released, will simply resume business.

A civil matter?

Lepore said his client, despite numerous civil suits, has never been convicted of a crime and continues to play a role in caring for his children despite his separation from his wife.

Outside court, Lepore also called the allegations "exaggerated," saying Ford has "countless happy customers," and that he did "substantial" work on the homes of the complaining witnesses before his arrest.

Lepore also said Ford has insurance that will cover some of the losses that are being claimed.

"Essentially, this comes down to a civil disagreement," said Lepore.

If Ford makes bail, he's required to stay in Massachusetts and not work in the construction trades, Feeley ordered.

A pretrial conference is scheduled for Sept. 28.

Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521.

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