CHARLESTON — West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey has announced a Putnam County contractor is headed to prison thanks to his office’s analysis of a consumer complaint and its subsequent referral to local prosecutors.
John A. Luikhart, 32, of Buffalo, received a two- to 20-year prison sentence Nov. 15, weeks after the contractor entered into a plea deal with local prosecutors.
The Attorney General’s Consumer Division received complaints of unfinished, shoddy and otherwise fraudulent work. The office looked into the matter and then referred the complaint to the Putnam County Prosecutor’s Office for review and potential indictment.
“This prosecution and punishment should serve as notice to all who would defraud consumers,” Morrisey said. “Our office will aggressively pursue anyone who seeks to illicitly take money for services that they do not perform.”
Luikhart pleaded guilty to felony fraudulent schemes and obtaining money by false pretenses, along with a misdemeanor count of being a person prohibited from possessing a firearm. He agreed to pay restitution worth several thousand dollars to a heating and cooling company and two consumers.
Luikhart also has a case pending in Jackson County.
Putnam Circuit Judge Joseph K. Reeder presided over the case.