Jefferson County Contractor Sentenced

St. Louis Co., Mo. (KFMO) - A contractor from Hillsboro, 27-year-old Austin James, is facing 5 years of probation, 90 days of house arrest, 80 hours of community service, and he's ordered to repay $94,606 to the victim’s estate after he was sentenced for his part in financially exploitating an elderly St. Louis woman.

Prosecutors say James aided in the crimes of 36-year-old Gino Rives of Edmunson, in St. Louis County, who the 80-year-old victim hired sometime before January 17, 2021, to repair her roof for $7,500. She then hired Rives, who falsely claimed to be a licensed contractor, to renovate the interior of her home. Rives told the woman to write checks that totaled more than $550,000 for renovations.

Due to the volume of checks written on the victims account, officials with the St. Louis City Building Inspector’s Office determined that any work done on the house was worth at most $50,000. J

ames received eight checks totaling $94,606 between January 2021 and July 2021 for purportedly performing work on the victim’s, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, basement and foundation. Photos presented during the sentencing hearing proved that he did not perform the work for which he had been paid.

James pled guilty to one count of identity theft. Rives was sentenced in June to 87 months in prison and ordered to repay more than $1 million to elder fraud victims.