The pool contractors sentenced to 15 years for failing to finish the projects they took on were denied the chance to withdraw their guilty pleas on Thursday.
Previously, in September, Bruce and Heather Alford entered Alford pleas, meaning they did not admit guilt but acknowledged the sufficiency of the evidence for conviction.
They were each sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to 27 counts of theft. They owe hundreds of thousands of dollars for unfinished pools.
On Thursday afternoon, defense attorney Tyler Conklin argued that the Alfords should be allowed to withdraw their earlier pleas because a restitution amount wasn’t set during the sentencing. Instead, Chief Judge James G. Blanchard had said he would determine the restitution amount at another hearing. Conklin argued that this meant the sentencing wasn’t complete.
But Blanchard denied the request for the couple to be able to withdraw their pleas.
One victim at the Thursday hearing, Gloria Slaughter, said she had to hire another company to finish the work on her pool, forcing her to take out a loan. While she is owed a lot of money, she knows other victims are worse off than she is, she said.
“Some of them didn’t get a grain of dirt moved,” she said. “But it seems like hope is coming soon. I know we won’t be made whole, but if we can at least get something back that will be good.”
The Alfords started Georgia-Lina Pools and Landscaping in 2017 but had to shut it down the following year to comply with a judge’s order.
At the sentencing in September, the Alfords said they got in over their heads and did not intend to steal from customers.
