Pittsburgh-area contractor accused of taking money but not doing jobs

Charges have been filed against 45-year-old Nolan Nichols for allegedly taking money from people to fix their pools and then failing to do the work.

Earlier this month, James Moran reported to Pennsylvania State Police that he paid Nichols thousands of dollars in the spring to fix his pool and the fence around it, only to have the Irwin man not do the work and seemingly abscond with his money.

"It is very upsetting to me," Moran said. "To think that someone out there understands who I am as a person and what we have here to provide for the children and lets you down that hard, it's awful."

According to court records, Nichols has a long criminal history spanning several years in multiple western Pennsylvania counties. And of those charges, several deal with fraud of a similar nature.

In Hempfield Township, a homeowner told KDKA-TV that Nichols gave her a $37,000 estimate to work on her pool, but she says after paying Nichols a $9,000 deposit and having no work completed, she refused to pay the remaining balance. 

Both her pool and Moran's pool are left ripped apart and unfinished, waiting for another contractor to come in and fix the mess Nichols is said to have created. And for Moran, he fears that he will never get his money back.

"It was a surprise to us to see how many people he has been doing this to," Moran said. "It's awful. It needed to stop. It needs to stop now. You put your trust and intentions into people, you try to do the right thing just to get people some extra money to do their work in the summertime that they are supposed to be professionals with, and they let you down."

KDKA-TV called Nichols on the phone on Thursday. We asked him for his side of the story, to which he said, "No comment," and then hung up.