George Spooner
Credit: Bucks County District Attorney’s Office
A painting contractor who unlawfully entered and stole from the home of his customer and pocketed deposits from two others was sentenced this week to serve four to 12 years in state prison.
George Spooner, 43, of Bristol Township, plead guilty in Bucks County Common Pleas Court to criminal trespassing and numerous theft and fraud related felonies.
As noted in court documents, in February 2015, Spooner used a spare, concealed key to burglarize the home of a Doylestown Township woman for whom he had done work, stealing an Apple Mac Book Pro, a checkbook, a jewelry box and several items of jewelry that he later pawned at a business in Lower Southampton before forging the woman’s signature on one of the checks he had stolen, cashing it for $3,860 at a Wells Fargo Bank the following month.
Even after being charged with those crimes, Spooner victimized two more customers while out on bail and awaiting trial.
Last May, a Newtown Township resident gave Spooner a deposit check for $2,800 toward painting his residence. Spooner never showed up on the agreed-upon job date, told the victim he couldn’t do the work, and never returned the deposit money. A few months later in August, Spooner did nearly the same thing to a Bensalem woman when she paid him a $5,787.50 deposit for residential painting and mold removal. Spooner told the woman he was taking a material sample to be tested for mold and never returned or refunded the deposit.
Authorities noted in a recent release that Spooner had an extensive record of theft-related crimes before his sentencing.
