By art bukowski
abukowski@record-eagle.com
May 08, 2008 04:00 am SUTTONS BAY -- A contractor who scammed the owners of a Suttons Bay condominium pleaded guilty to a criminal charge. George D. Newpower pleaded guilty last week to one felony count of making false sworn statements as a contractor in excess of $20,000. Prosecutors dropped a habitual offender charge in exchange for the plea. The habitual offender charge would have increased the prison time potentially faced by Newpower when Circuit Judge Thomas G. Power sentences him May 27. Newpower, 58, agreed in July to refurbish a portion of a condominium owned by two people, Leelanau Chief Assistant Prosecutor Doug Donaldson said. He collected about $95,000 but never completed the work, Donaldson said, although he filed paperwork claiming that he had. Newpower, of Traverse City, will pay $65,000 in restitution as part of the deal. Newpower did some work on the condo, Donaldson said, and the restitution amount reflects the work he didn't complete. Prosecutors initially charged Newpower with a misdemeanor count of making false sworn statements as a contractor, but prosecutors ramped up the charges after checking Newpower's record. He pleaded guilty in 1997 to embezzlement by an agent or trustee over $100 after former partners discovered he stole a combined total of more than $1 million from their Mancelona-area property development business and other interests, according to court records. A judge sentenced Newpower to six to 10 years in prison for the embezzlement charge. He was released in May 2005, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records. Court records show he still owes more than $1 million in restitution to his former business partners.
—
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.