Syracuse, New York (WSYR-TV) - A crooked Oswego County contractor who's admitted to ripping off close to a dozen people in Onondaga County alone, is now behind bars.
David Bourlier, a familiar name to Your Stories viewers, was sentenced to six months in jail, and five years probation Thursday morning.
Bourlier, the owner of Arrowhead Garage Builders in Pennelville, had no excuses in the courtroom Thursday for the work -- or lack thereof -- he's done all over central New York.
“Things went bad over the past couple of years -- a lot of people suffered a lot of financial losses as a result of that,” says Judge Joseph Fahey during the sentencing.
People like the Detor family of Liverpool, who paid Bourlier $14,000 to remodel and add on to their garage. After he took their money, Bourlier took off, leaving a huge mess behind. There are a total of nine homeowners just in Onondaga County who had criminal charges against him.
Bourlier has been behind bars at the Justice Center since he pleaded guilty in July; that will go toward his six-month sentence.
And once he gets out, as part of his probation, he'll have to pay back a total of $90,000 in restitution over the next five years. He paid $9,000 of that back today - $1,000 to each homeowner.
If Bourlier hadn't paid the $9,000 in restitution at his sentencing, he could've been sentenced to four years in prison.
“We got some money back, he's going to be serving a certain amount of time, and we're going to get our victims paid back,” says county assistant district attorney Rob Demarco.
And the DA’s office says if that doesn't happen, Bourlier will get hauled back to jail until it does.
There are other homeowners who've filed complaints against Bourlier, but because a majority of the work at their homes got done, they have civil cases against the contractor, not criminal. The Oswego County Sheriff's Department is still investigating complaints there as well.
Bourlier has been covered by the Your Stories team for years, as he ripped off customers all over central New York, from Cicero to Fulton, Phoenix, Baldwinsville and Liverpool.
