ENGLEWOOD — Bill Truex is disgusted with builders ripping off would-be homeowners.
Truex, owner of Truex Preferred Construction in Englewood, has worked in the construction industry since 1992.
He is also a Charlotte County commissioner.
Hearing Stephen Dukes, 52, co-owner of the defunct HD Custom Homes, recently took a “sweetheart” plea deal in Charlotte County, made Truex angry.
Dukes and his partner, Matt Harden, took approximately $11 million in deposits from more than 70 customers and didn’t complete their homes, according to Attorney General Ashley Moody.
In Charlotte County, Dukes was charged with six counts of misappropriation of construction funds. Facing 90 years in prison, Dukes could serve about six months in jail if 20th Circuit Judge Lisa Porter accepts the plea deal, court records show.
The proposed plea follows his jail sentence with 14 years of probation, but if he pays $195,000 in restitution to the state, the probation would be dropped.
The plea deal doesn’t require him to pay back the millions to his victims, who proved to the state he took their money.