Cabell County Man Sentenced to Home Confinement for Contractor Fraud
A Cabell County man has been sentenced to serve 1 to 10 years on home confinement after admitting to accepting payment for a home renovation project he never started.
Jacob Meadows was convicted of obtaining money under false pretenses after taking $25,000 in May 2021 to build a deck for a homeowner. Despite receiving payment for materials, Meadows never began the work. The homeowner later discovered that Meadows was not a licensed contractor, as he had claimed.
Although he was initially sentenced to a term of 1 to 10 years in prison, Cabell County Circuit Judge Gregory Howard ordered that the sentence be served through home confinement.
Under the terms of his confinement, Meadows will be permitted to maintain employment but is required to pay the victim $1,000 per month until the remaining balance of $18,000 is repaid. Failure to make timely payments will result in the revocation of his home confinement status and possible imprisonment.
Once the home confinement period concludes, Meadows will remain under supervision through a probationary term.
The case highlights the importance of verifying contractor credentials before beginning home improvement projects, particularly in West Virginia, where unlicensed activity can carry serious legal consequences.