PUNTA GORDA — After taking millions of dollars from 52 customers for incomplete homes, Stephen Dukes, co-owner of the defunct HD Custom Homes, took a plea deal this week in a Charlotte County courtroom.
Dukes, 52, who faced six counts of misappropriation of construction funds, asked Charlotte County Judge Porter to waive his right to a trial.
According to the terms of the plea deal, Duke could serve six months in Charlotte County Jail and 14 years of probation, court records show.
He will also have to pay about $195,000 in restitution, if the judge OKs the deal.
Porter accepted the plea deal and will sentence Dukes on March 4.
In a separate criminal case, Dukes and his business partner, Matt Harden, were arrested in 2020 following an investigation by Charlotte County Sheriff’s Detective Kevin Bordner.
Bordner found 22 cases where the pair took money from customers or didn’t pay subcontractors. A former HD Custom Homes subcontractor said the company was like a “ship taking on water.”