Ohio Home-Improvement Scammer Gets 3-Year Prison Sentence

A home-improvement scam artist won’t be knocking on any doors for at least the next three years, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro and Ross County Prosecutor Scott Nusbaum announced recently.

Nick E. Lovell, 34, pleaded guilty recently in Ross County Common Pleas Court to violating Ohio’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act. As a result of the plea, Lovell received a three-year prison sentence.

“Nick Lovell went door to door preying on elderly residents throughout central Ohio,” Petro said. “He promised repair services, took his victims’ money and never completed the jobs.”

In late May, the Grand Jury indicted Lovell and his brother, Jack, for leading an organized criminal operation in which they were reportedly paid thousands of dollars by elderly victims in Franklin, Licking, Madison and Ross counties for their incomplete work. In some cases, the elderly residents were victimized multiple times.

Jack Lovell, who was already incarcerated for his reported escape and failure to register as a sex offender, pleaded guilty to his RICO charge Sept. 6 and also received a three-year sentence.