Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier’s Office of Statewide Prosecution announced that James Ivan Staten, Jr., the owner and operator of Olympus Pools, has been found guilty of defrauding Floridians out of more than $1.5 million.
Staten was convicted on 35 counts, including aggravated white-collar crime, organized scheme to defraud, grand theft, and contractor fraud. He accepted large down payments from customers in Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, and Polk counties but failed to complete their pools, leaving them with unfinished projects and destroyed yards.
“I’m proud to announce that Prosecutors Stephanie Bergen and Panagiota Papakos secured a guilty conviction for this fraudster who turned many Floridians’ dreams of a backyard paradise into a nightmare, taking their money and digging holes to nowhere,” said Attorney General James Uthmeier. “Little did this fraudster know, he’d be digging himself into a 20-year minimum prison sentence.”…