Repeat offender gets probation in Arlington Heights home repair fraud
A Mount Prospect man already on probation for swindling seniors received probation once again for cheating an elderly Arlington Heights couple last year.
Rocky Reed, of the 500 block of Ida Court, pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated home repair fraud, court records show. In exchange for his guilty plea, Cook County Judge Bridget Hughes sentenced the 25-year-old to 24 months probation and ordered him to pay $649 in fines, according to court records.
In addition, records show Reed made restitution to his victims in the amount of $4,300.
Prosecutors said Reed approached the married couple at their home on July 23, 2013, and offered to repair their cement. He told them cement cost $69 per pound and he needed 10 pounds to do the job, prosecutors said. He subsequently charged the couple $4,300 for work authorities described as "superficial in nature."
Days later, the couple noticed cracks in the cement. Recalling a Daily Herald article they read about home repair fraud, the couple called Arlington Heights police who began investigating.
In August 2013, a month before his arrest on the Arlington Heights charges, Reed was sentenced to 24 months probation after he admitted swindling a 93-year-old Mount Prospect woman and taking hundreds of dollars from a Palatine senior for unnecessary chimney repairs.