Contractor faces multiple charges
WAYNESBURG – The owner of a West Virginia-based construction company was transferred into the custody of Wyoming County law enforcement Oct. 9, the same day he was sentenced in Greene County Court for scamming a Wayne Township woman out of $2,750 for contracted services he never performed.
Adam Richard Wample, 37, of 42 1st Lane, Berwick, pleaded no contest in Greene County to charges of theft by unlawful taking, deceptive business practices and theft by deception before Judge Farley Toothman. Toothman sentenced Wample to one to five years in prison with a possibility of entering the Risk Recidivism Reduction Incentive program. He was given credit for 51 days already served. If Wample receives RRRI, his minimum sentence would be nine months.
Wample currently faces multiple charges filed April 9 in Tunkhannock Borough for forgery and bad checks. A jury trial is scheduled in the matter for Oct. 21 at the Wyoming County Courthouse, Tunkhannock.
Greene County Detective Dave Lloyd was called to investigate Wample after he failed to honor a contract he entered in June 6, 2012, with Marcella Marie Meyers, 2780 Sheppards Run Road. Under the contract, Wample, acting as a contractor for A&D Contracting of Newbury, W.Va., was to build a shed on Meyers’s property. The contract called for $2,750 down payment and an additional $1,140 upon completion of the work.
When Wample did not perform the contracted services, Meyers contacted law enforcement. She told Lloyd she was unable to reach Wample by phone but Lloyd contacted Wample, who said he would refund the money to Meyers but he had to wait on other jobs to pay him first.
Lloyd filed charges against Wample March 4 after he was unable to reach him again. The number given on the contract with Meyers is different from the number listed for A&D Contracting with the Better Business Bureau, where the business received an “F” rating. According to the BBB, the company failed to respond at all to seven complaints from customers, and did not resolve issues with two others. Wample is listed as the owner of record.
In addition to the charges in Wyoming County, Wample has pending charges in Luzerne and Columbia counties. Charges were filed Dec. 28, 2012, in Columbia for forgery, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, criminal attempt and access device fraud. There are multiple charges in Luzerne filed April 22 and Aug. 7, including bad checks, theft by deception, conspiracy and forgery.