Man accused of home improvement fraud in CT accepts convictions but may avoid jail by repaying money

Journal Inquirer (Manchester, CT)

Aug. 26—He was convicted of four felony counts in those cases, with the most serious being second-degree larceny, which can carry up to 10 years in prison, records show. The other felonies he was convicted of were second-degree forgery and two counts of third-degree identity theft, each carrying up to five years in prison, according to records.

Dias was also convicted of two misdemeanor counts of violating home improvement contract requirements, each carrying up to six months in prison, record show.

But after Dias admitted he was guilty of one of the misdemeanor counts Thursday in the Manchester court, Judge Sheila M. Prats put him on probation for five years, with the six months of prison time kicking in if he violates release conditions, records show.

Ironically, that is the case with the most demanding release conditions. Prats ordered Dias to pay up to $50,000 of the homeowner's $102,400 claimed loss at $833 per month, though Dias will not have to repay any amount covered by insurance, records show.

Also Thursday, a Manchester prosecutor dropped all charges stemming from a Glastonbury woman's accusations that Dias defrauded her of more than $23,000 on a renovation job.

Dias accepted a plea bargain last month in the New Britain court that resolved all three of his cases there. He is to be sentenced Oct. 11, but his plea bargain calls for him to be put on probation for five years, with the possibility of up to five years in prison if he violates release conditions, records show.

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The New Britain plea bargain calls for Dias to pay a little more than $32,800 in restitution to the three victims in those cases, two of whom own homes in New Britain and one in Plainville, records show.

Dias entered the New Britain plea deal under the Alford doctrine, meaning he did not admit guilt but acknowledged that prosecutors had enough evidence for a conviction at trial.

The allegations in most of the cases are similar. The homeowners told police that they signed home improvement contracts with Dias, who told several of them that his name was "Joe Ferreira," according to police affidavits. The contracts generally called for a deposit of 50 percent of the agreed-upon price of the job, with another 25 percent payable after the completion of demolition, and the final 25 percent after all the work was finished.

Homeowners described discovering that Diaz had altered the checks they gave him to add the name Dias after Ferreira and that he had used contractor numbers belonging to others, according to the police affidavits.

The homeowners also described how he would have people begin the work but would eventually leave the job unfinished, the affidavits say. Some of the homeowners claimed the work was of such low quality that it had to be done over, police reported.

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