McHenry Co. roofer guilty of fraud

A McHenry County man accused of accepting $6,800 for a roofing job he never started pleaded guilty Monday to home repair fraud.

Michael W. Fees, 48, of the 6100 block of Prairie Street, Union, was sentenced to two years of conditional discharge, restitution and $7,400 in court fines and costs in exchange for his plea. The deal, in which a Class 4 felony was reduced to a Class A misdemeanor, was accepted by Kane County Judge James C. Hallock.

Fees was arrested last September, more than a year after a Hampshire Township woman paid him $6,800 for a roofing job he "never even started," according to police. The victim had contacted him on multiple occasions over several months and been assured Fees would do the job, but it never happened.

By pleading guilty to a misdemeanor, Fees avoided a potential prison sentence or probation. Under conditional discharge, he must avoid new charges or face resentencing.