RAPID CITY, S.D. – A Huron contractor was sentenced for defrauding seven individuals out of more than $36,000 for uncompleted work, according to an announcement from South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley.
Julio Morales-Ortiz, 34, was sentenced in Beadle County Circuit Court after pleading guilty to one count of Theft by Deception. The sentence includes a 10-year suspended prison term, three years of probation, and an order to repay $36,450. Morales-Ortiz will also serve 15 days in the county jail.
Morales-Ortiz, who ran a roofing and painting business, contracted to perform construction work between 2021 and 2023. Customers paid for his services, but the work was never completed.
“When fraudulent contractors and businesses steal from those who hire them, they violate the trust of those who paid them,” Jackley said. “This defendant took money that was given to him in good faith, and then never delivered on the work.”
The case was investigated by the Attorney General’s Office’s Consumer Protection Division and the Huron Police Department, with the prosecution handled by the Attorney General’s Office.
Residents of South Dakota who believe they have been a victim of a scam can contact the Attorney General’s Office’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-300-1986 or through their website.