PROVIDENCE – A North Kingstown contractor was sentenced June 6 to 30 months in state prison and ordered to pay more than $65,000 in restitution after pleading no contest to five counts of forgery, R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha announced Friday.
Francis Martin, 62, will serve two and a half years to serve at the R.I. Adult Correctional Institutions with the rest of the sentence being suspended. He was also given 10 years’ probation.
Inside Scoop on PC’s Sports Administration Program
This past August Providence College announced its newest graduate program, an online Master of Science…
Learn More
Martin, Neronha said, had forged signatures on insurance checks for construction work that was never completed in 2014, mainly on work repairing water damage. Martin fraudulently collected $72,490 from two homeowners in Exeter and Narragansett, Neronha said.
Neronah also said Martin has been charged with several misdemeanor counts of failing to comply with final orders of the R.I. Contractors’ Registration and Licensing Board stemming from the same conduct in this case. That case is still pending in Providence Superior Court.
“My message to these types of predatory businesses: our office stands ready to protect consumers and businesses who play by the rules, and if you break the law and rip people off Rhode Islanders, we will be there to ensure you are held accountable,” Neronha said in a statement.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
