KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Some of the customers of a crooked former Lee's Summit contractor say the long wait for justice may finally be coming to an end.
"I feel very pleased that the consumers won in this case," Jennifer Turner, a former customer, said.
Mike Ross, who owned the now-defunct Building Pro LLC, pleaded guilty in Jackson County Circuit Court to six counts of misdemeanor deceptive business practices.
"I was absolutely thrilled that something actually got done, so that was good news," another customer, Dave Bodling, said.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt investigated the complaints of frustrated customers who paid Ross money for home improvement projects where little to no work was ever completed.
Ross was ordered to pay $60,000 in restitution to six of his customers, including Turner and Bodling.
As a result of his pleas, Jackson County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Phillips placed Ross on probation for two years.
41 Action News could not get a hold of Ross after the judgment. His attorney said, in part, "The restitution has already been paid. All complainants were made whole."
"I would have preferred to see a harsher penalty in terms of the criminal part of it but you know, you take what you can get and I think there was some justice that was served," Bodling said.
41 Action News has extensively covered this story over the last few years, identifying nearly 20 families in both Missouri and Kansas who allege that Ross scammed them out of thousands of dollars.
Ross, who now lists an address in Michigan, had faced six counts of unlawful merchandising practices and two counts of financial exploitation of an elderly person.
We tried to get answers from Ross himself, but he ran the other way.
Ross, 49, filed for bankruptcy around three years ago. Building Pro's Chapter 7 bankruptcy case was dismissed last April, but most jilted homeowners remained committed to recovering their money.
"I believe just banding together made all the difference," Turner said. "I would encourage anyone who has been maligned by a business to the same thing because there's power in numbers and if you don't speak up, you're never going to win."
The six homeowners are glad to finally put this stressful saga behind them.
"I would just like to thank you for all your efforts and your tenacity and how you stuck with it," Bodling said to 41 Action News. "And I think it did make a difference."
"This case is an excellent example of the great work that my office’s Consumer Protection Section does on behalf of consumers across the state of Missouri every single day," Schmitt said. "I’m pleased that we were able to recover full restitution for the homeowners scammed by Ross and his company."
Read past coverage:
- Homeowners say contractor's poor business practices cost them thousands
- Clients of former contractor declaring bankruptcy say they still want their money
- Customers grill contractor under oath at bankruptcy hearing after paying him $400K
- Defunct contractor faces more questioning from clients who say he owes them money
- Former contractor accused of cheating customers back in bankruptcy court
- Defunct contractor bankruptcy case drags on in federal court
- Bankruptcy case of contractor accused of taking thousands dropped
- Former Building Pro owner Mike Ross faces criminal charges in Jackson County
- Jilted customers welcome charges against crooked contractor
- Missouri AG targets ‘crooked contractors’ during National Consumer Protection Week
