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Contractor Sentenced For Deceptive Business Practices

El Paso County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal today announced the sentencing of a North-East contractor accused of Deceptive Business Practices.

34-year-old José Martínez pled guilty this week to 2 counts of committing a Deceptive Business Practice, a crime of dishonesty punishable by up to one year in jail and/or fine not to exceed $4,000. According to the police complaint, on December 14, 2007 Martínez charged an east-side home owner $9,550 to fix a roof and build a carport; however the job was never finished.

During the course of the investigation, it was revealed that in his advertisements Martínez falsely claimed he was licensed and bonded.

After accepting the guilty plea, County Court at Law #2 Judge Robert Anchondo sentenced Martinez to 90 days in jail.

 El Paso County Attorney Jo Anne Bernal said consumers should not only make sure contractors are licensed and bonded, but need to make sure all the permits are filed with the City.

"Con artists will do anything to get their hands on your money, including being dishonest about licenses and bonds. Consumers need to be very careful to hire only reputable businesses and not pay for work upfront," Bernal said.

"Once a homeowner parts with his money, all he has in return is the hope that the contractor will do what he said he would do. Civil suits against contractors are often a waste of time and money because even if the homeowner wins the suit he frequently cannot collect on the judgment," Bernal finalized. 

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Roofer Sentenced Press Release.pdf

 

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About edominguez

Elhiu Dominguez was born in Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, México. He moved to the Ciudad Juárez - El Paso area in 1988 to study Mass Communications at the Chihuahua State University (UACH). He later obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso in 1994. Elhiu began his professional career in 1989 as a reporter for Norte de Juarez newspaper. In 1994 he was employed at Canal 26, the local Univision affiliate in El Paso, as photojournalist, producer, and later as a reporter. In 1998, after a brief period as Weekend Assignments Editor at KDBC Channel 4, the local CBS affiliate, Elhiu returned to work at Univision 26 as a senior reporter. He was later assigned in 1999 as the Texas-New Mexico correspondent for the Univision Network’s news magazine “Primer Impacto”, a position that he held until his resignation in 2005 to become Assignments Editor at KFOX Channel 14, the local FOX network affiliate. Elhiu left KFOX in 2006 to become the Public Affairs Officer for the El Paso County Attorney’s Office. During his more than 15 years of experience as journalist, Elhiu has received numerous awards, among them “La Columna de Oro” for a special series of stories regarding the murders of women in Juárez, and several first and second place awards by the New Mexico and Texas Associated Press in the categories of investigative reporting, breaking news, and feature stories.