In Greeneville On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Clifton Corker sentenced former owner of Wood Construction and Remodeling, Leighton “Joe” Wood, to spend 10 months on electronically monitored home detention.
Wood has admitted to defrauding homeowners of more than $1.4 million dollars. Judge Corker could have sentenced Wood up to 10 months in prison according to the terms of a proposed plea deal, that also includes full financial restitution to the victims.
Wood Construction and Remodeling operated profitably in the past out of Johnson City, but then expanded at a reckless rate, that eventually led to unethical business decisions. Wood’s Tennessee business license was suspended late in 2021, and he and his wife moved to Charlotte, North Carolina soon after.
Thirty-six year old Wood, often took 40% deposits and then performed no work, or performed limited or shoddy work. Forty percent upfront is itself an amount higher than that allowed by law. Then the victims had to spend even more money to get repairs done.
Judge Corker said that the provision of the $1.4 million dollars already in the court coffers, and the apparent fact that Wood didn’t spend the money on luxuries for himself, affected his choice of a sentence.
Wood apologized in a statement he read at the podium, saying he hoped his poor judgement and consequences could be used as a lesson to help move forward.
Wood is to begin his sentence within 30 days. Victims should have their funds deposited within the next several weeks.
