A 37-year-old Hilo man has been charged with three felonies after he allegedly posed as a licensed contractor.
A 37-year-old Hilo man has been charged with three felonies after he allegedly posed as a licensed contractor.
On Friday, Ricky Anthony Mesa was charged with first-degree theft and two felony counts of unlicensed contractor fraud. His bail was set at $60,000. He was held at the Hilo police cellblock pending his initial court appearance Monday.
The charges stem from two separate incidents in 2012. In September 2012, Mesa identified himself as a licensed contractor to a Hilo couple to do electrical, plumbing and drywall work. In November 2012, he identified himself as a licensed contractor and received more than $30,000 to install a photovoltaic system for a 69-year-old Pahoa man but never completed the work.
Mesa was charged under a law that went into effect in July 2012 that makes it a felony to perform work while falsely claiming to be a licensed contractor.