MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SCAMMING HOMEOWNER OUT OF $200K

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that defendant Nicholas Spano pleaded guilty to Attempted Grand Larceny for scamming a woman out of $200,000 of her retirement and savings funds while posing as a home improvement contractor.

“This defendant agreed to help the victim out with home repairs, but instead he exploited his position as a contractor to take advantage of the victim and steal her life savings,” said District Attorney Tierney. “He’ll now face sentencing where my office will seek state prison time to account for his crime. Let this be a lesson to anyone who would scam a homeowner. We will not stand for it.”

According to the investigation and his own admission, Spano, 59, exploited the victim from September of 2019 to December 2020. Spano had been recommended to the victim by another contractor, and in September 2019 he gave an estimate for home improvement work on the victim’s Huntington residence. Upon gaining the victim’s trust, Spano manipulated the victim into giving him money for different reasons. His behavior escalated to the point that he made threats of violence against the victim, her family, and her associates. This conduct continued for more than a year, until the victim’s retirement and savings accounts were depleted. When Suffolk County Police Department Second Precinct officers arrested Spano on April 24, 2022, he exclaimed, “She’s doing this because I took her for the money.”

Spano pleaded guilty on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 to one count of Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree and is being represented by John Halverson, Esq. He is due back in court on January 18, 2023 and faces to 2 to 4 years of incarceration at sentencing.

Spano’s case was heard before Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Timothy P. Mazzei.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Milito of the Financial Crimes Bureau. This case was investigated with Suffolk County Police Department Second Precinct Detective Christopher Anskat.

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Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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