GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas – A Galveston County contractor who stole from over 30 people, including two World War II veterans, was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday.
Less than a week before trial, John James Thomas pled guilty in front of Judge Kerry Neves in Galveston County District Court. The Galveston County District Attorney’s Office said Thomas stole from over 30 victims as part of an ongoing scheme for construction fraud. He was sentenced to 10 years on two separate counts of aggregated theft.
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“While many contractor disputes result only in civil lawsuits due to the difficulty of proving criminal intent by the contractor, this contractor’s actions and behavior rose to the first-degree felony level due to the continuous course of conduct and pattern of behavior, specifically targeting elderly victims,” a release from the district attorney’s office read.
The Galveston County District Attorney’s Office began investigating in 2019 after elderly victims came forward and a clear pattern of criminal behavior by Thomas was visible.
Officials said Thomas gained the trust of the victims by posing as a legitimate custom home builder and contractor. He would underbid his competition, but in reality, had no intention of completing the work and stole over $100,000 from elderly citizens.
“Instead of performing the agreed work on homes across Galveston County, he spent thousands of his victims’ dollars at a casino in Louisiana,” the district attorney’s office said.
Bank records, casino records, Venmo records, Zelle records, and more were all subpoenaed by the D.A. Investigator Ernest Robles and Fraud Examiner during the investigation. The pattern of behavior was clear and as stated by former Fraud Examiner Courtney Hebert, “John Thomas never kept his promise.” The fraud analysis of the voluminous records concluded that Thomas not only took victims’ money for services without legitimately providing materials, such as windows, but would also request funds via banking apps while at the casino. Furthermore, he lied about and charged his victims for permits that were never acquired and mold restoration where no mold ever existed.
Thomas’ thefts often started with active communication and efforts to show work being done, mostly demo work, in order to secure the confidence of the victims and solicit more money and more projects. But after acquiring the funds, Thomas would eventually make excuses and abandon the projects. Thomas stole from many retired victims, including 93-year-old and 98-year-old World War II veterans. These were only two of Thomas’ many victims in Galveston County.
Thomas was originally indicted by the Galveston County Grand Jury in 2019, bonded out, but then continued his schemes, resulting in a second charge in 2021, which was third-degree felony aggregated theft with numerous other victims of all ages. The court revoked Thomas’ bond and he had been in jail awaiting trial on both cases. Assistant District Attorneys Hilary Miller and Michael Rinehart prosecuted Thomas, who also has pending criminal theft cases with the same modus operandi in nearby counties.
“Contractor fraud is all too prevalent in our society and difficult to prove,” Chief ADA Miller stated after the plea. “We are grateful to the law enforcement officers, fraud investigators, and victims who worked together to hold Thomas accountable.”
Rinehart added, “John Thomas has learned that actions have consequences, and prison is now his reality.”