Unlicensed contractor admits to numerous charges
The guilty pleas came just one week before Ford was set to stand trial, where he would have faced twice as many counts -- and potentially, decades behind bars if convicted.
In addition to admitting to being a common and notorious thief, Ford pleaded guilty to multiple counts each of felony larceny, insurance fraud, forgery, home improvement fraud, violation of state regulations concerning asbestos removal and disposal, violating state building codes, and making false statements under oath, as well as to single counts of identity fraud, workers compensation fraud, obtaining signatures by false pretense, conspiracy, making a false report of a crime.
Ford was barely audible as he uttered the word "guilty" 42 times, then answered a series of questions from Judge
At several points, the judge and a court stenographer had to ask him to speak up.
The man on the witness stand in
Instead, she was left with a shell and piles of construction debris, including asbestos.
She is expected to be among the victims at Ford's sentencing hearing on
Ford's other victims include insurance companies like Traveler's, which paid him worker's compensation benefits and covered a
Ford had forged W-2 forms to suggest he was earning
And, said the prosecutor, at the same time he was collecting worker's compensation benefits, he was setting up the two companies he would falsely advertise as licensed home improvement contractors,
Another insurer, Liberty Mutual, paid out
And while many of Ford's customers, who were all over eastern
Among the
Ford, who lived in
The second, a
Ford registered the luxury SUV in the name of a girlfriend in
Mallard did not have any of the victims in court on Monday. That's because Ford had repeatedly backed out of prior planned guilty pleas while the case was pending.
The lead investigators in the case,
Across the aisle was Ford's mother.
The plea was entered with the understanding that Ford could withdraw it if Drechsler exceeds a four-year sentence -- the maximum Mallard said he would seek in the case.
The judge said he would wait to hear from the victims and asked for sentencing memos from both the prosecutor and Ford's attorney prior to making a decision.
Ford's attorney,
Courts reporter
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