South Strabane contractor pleads guilty to bilking customers in Allegheny County
A contractor from South Strabane Township accused of bilking numerous customers in Allegheny County pleaded guilty Tuesday and was sentenced to serve jail time while also being ordered to reimburse the victims.
Daniel Michael Bull, 39, pleaded guilty in Allegheny County Court to 16 felony charges and was immediately sentenced to serve three to six years in jail and pay an unidentified amount of restitution to the victims.
Bull pleaded guilty to six counts of theft by failure to make required disposition of funds, five counts of deceptive business practices, two counts each of theft by deception false impression and failure to perform services and one charge of identity theft.
Detectives with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office began investigating in September 2019 after being referred a complaint from the FBI.
Two separate victims were swindled while trying to build houses in Oakmont, while a company looking to build modular homes in Lawrenceville was duped by Bull, according to court documents. There were also examples investigators found of defaulting on business loans, deceptive business practices and other theft of services, court paperwork stated.
In one case, a man building a house in Oakmont entered into an agreement with Bull and paid the contractor half of the payment up front and continued to pay him as work was supposed to be completed. However, Bull stopped work and subcontractors working on other projects also reported not being paid. Bull continued asking for payments despite stopping any progress. The man estimated he paid nearly $167,000 to Bull, along with an additional $40,000 in cash payments to crew members who were working on the job that Bull refused to pay.
There were also 20 subcontractors who were owed a combined $531,950 in payments.
Bull’s attorney, Gayle Kraut, did not respond to a phone message seeking comment.
According to court documents, Bull marketed himself as a reformed felon who hired other felons to complete construction work. Bull served a 21-month federal prison sentence and was ordered to pay nearly $500,000 in restitution after pleading to mail fraud in 2011, according to federal court documents.