I-TEAM UPDATE: Sentence upheld for pair who took money, left pools unfinished
EVANS, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The Georgia Court of Appeals has upheld the sentence of a couple that was at the center of a pool contracting scandal.
Bruce and Heather Alford took a so-called Alford plea. The name is a coincidence; an Alford plea is a guilty plea, although the defendant maintains their innocence and its the prosecution’s evidence would probably result in a guilty verdict.
The victims said the Alfords took their money, promising to build swimming pools. But the work was never finished, and in some cases wasn’t even started.
EARLIER COVERAGE
- Pool contractors sentenced to decades in scandal
- Owners indicted two years after pool construction scheme
- Bank questions pool contractor after I-Team stories
A judge sent the couple to prison, and the appeals court this week affirmed that decision.
In the September 2022 sentencing, the couple got 40 years each, with 15 in prison. Their sentence started right away.
Bruce and Heather Alford each faced 27 felony counts, 54 total, tied to 27 unfinished pools, and even though they technically pleaded guilty, they wouldn’t it to any guilt.
At the sentencing, Judge James Blanchard himself described Georgia-Lina Pools as leaving behind a trail of destruction.
“Rather than stop once you finished one job and maybe had money for others, go back and complete that job, you continued that trail of destruction, and you’ve destroyed many people’s lives.”
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