Contractor charged with home improvement fraud, deceptive practices in Centre County
A contractor was charged Wednesday with five felonies after state police at Rockview said he took $8,000 from Rush Township homeowners but never performed the home renovations.
Herman U. Lardieri III, 54, of Blair County, received two advance payments, but no work was performed and no materials were delivered, police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause.
A homeowner told a trooper that Lardieri repeatedly gave excuses for the delays and that promised start dates came and went.
A trooper said he spoke with Lardieri in April after the homeowners reported their concerns. Lardieri said he would call them immediately, but police said he did not follow through.
The homeowners later agreed to give him four days in April to “make things right,” police wrote. By mid-May, a trooper said no materials were delivered, no work was completed and the money was not returned.
No defense lawyer was listed.
Lardieri is facing felony counts of home improvement fraud, theft, receiving stolen property and deceptive business practices. He was arraigned Wednesday by District Judge Allen Sinclair, who set bail at $50,000.
He is incarcerated at the Centre County Correctional Facility and his preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 17.