Chad Faubus Didn't Pay Contractors For Work, Instead Threatened Them With ICE Reports
BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- A Boulder man who didn't pay contractors for work they did on his home but instead threatened to report them to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been ordered to pay more than $23,000 in restitution. Chad Faubus was arrested last year on charges relating to theft, fraud and criminal extortion and was recently sentenced to four years of probation in addition to the required restitution.
CBS4 spoke with one of the contractors scammed by Faubus, who asked not to be identified.
"I made probably 15 or 20 trips to his house," he said.
He and his employees, and two other contractors, spent long hours working on different landscaping and electrical jobs at the home.
He says they were depending on the money that was supposed to come from that work and it never came.
"I have some health issues and it came down to, you know, are you going to make your mortgage payment or are you going to buy your medicine?" he said.
Instead, Faubus wrote bad checks to him and others he had hired. When they threatened to go to police, Faubus told them he was going to report them to ICE.
"They were worried that we are going to get expelled from the country, without the help of guys like this, we would be in a world of hurt," he said.
Those contractors did go to police. The investigation found 10 victims with more than $20,000 owed.
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty issued a warrant for Faubus.
"That's taking advantage of some of the most vulnerable by threatening their very presence in this country in order to steal from them and keep that scam going," Dougherty said.
Now Faubus will have to pay up, but for those he owes, with everything riding on that business, it's too little, too late.
"When you're as small as I am, it's survival."
According to the DA, Faubus showed up to his sentencing hearing with a check for $20,000, only part of what he owes. If he fails to fulfill any of his sentencing requirements he could go to prison for one to three years.