A homebuilder was sentenced to probation for conning customers. But when a Parker County judge learned the man was hiding money and not paying restitution, he was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
Prosecutors said 55-year-old homebuilder Joseph "Chuck" Cole, of Maypearl, left a trail of victims over the years, taking people's money but never building their houses.
Last year, Cole pleaded guilty to stealing. A judge delayed sentencing him, placed him on probation and ordered him to pay back his victims.
But he claimed he was broke.
Then investigators followed the paper trail. They found secret bank accounts. They said Cole used victims' money to buy a house in Florida and even a BMW and a Porsche.
"We gave him deferred adjudication with the hope he would pay the restitution," said Parker County prosecutor Jeff Swain. "He had the money. He had over a million dollars he could have paid back when he was on probation."
When prosecutors presented their evidence, Judge Craig Towson wasn't happy. Because Cole pleaded guilty to a first-degree felony, he could have been sentenced from five to 99 years. The judge chose 50 years.
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"I haven't seen a sentence like this with a white-collar crime but I also think these are unprecedented facts," Swain said. "We hadn't had a defendant stealing this much money in Parker County that we had a deferred adjudication on, so it was unprecedented in a number of ways."
Cole declined a request for an interview in jail.
