A Grand Forks man who pleaded guilty to accepting nearly $75,000 in payment for contracting work that he did not complete is now facing another charge.
Matthew John Hinze, 30, was sentenced to three years, but will only spend two months in jail. The remainder of his sentence can be served by electronic home monitoring.
Court documents follow a trail of unfinished work spanning from July 2017 to June 2018.
Hinze owns Matt Hinze Construction, but records show his contracting license expired in March. He accepted payment for five jobs after his license expired.
Between seven complaints, Hinze accepted $73,665 for work he never completed. He also took $15,000 worth of materials from a construction site.
ADVERTISEMENT
Court documents show the largest amount he took from a customer was $32,580 in January, 2018. The smallest amount was $3,000. In most of the cases, Hinze never began the construction, affidavits revealed.
Hinze pleaded guilty to all seven felony charges on New Year's Eve. He began serving his sentence Jan. 4. He's required to repay his victims.
One of Hinze's charges carried a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars and the remaining six charges each carried a maximum penalty of five years.
An additional complaint filed Jan. 24 alleges Hinze cashed a $7,820 check for materials and partial labor payment in February 2018 for a construction project he never began.
He's scheduled to appear in court Feb. 13.
If Hinze is convicted on the felony charge, it would bring the total theft up to about $81,456 without including the $15,000 worth of stolen material.
