Unregistered Seattle Contractor Gets Jail Time for Swindling Homeowners

An unregistered contractor must serve 30 days in jail for scamming Washington homeowners who paid him thousands of dollars for home improvement projects that he never finished.

King County Superior Court Judge Theresa Doyle also ordered Gary Shannon Edwards to repay his victims in King and Pierce counties $51,659, and pay court costs.

Edwards, 44, of Seattle, pleaded guilty to second-degree, felony theft and two counts of unregistered contracting, according to the Washington Attorney General’s Office. He entered the plea and was sentenced on the same day, July 11.

Edwards admitted pocketing payments for jobs that he never completed or in some cases never started.

The case resulted from a Washington State Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) investigation that found Edwards victimized more than eight homeowners in Seattle, Kent, Renton, Sammamish and Tacoma last year.

In one of the Tacoma cases, Edwards met with a customer in April 2013 to choose cabinets. He cashed the customer’s deposit check for $4,500, but never ordered the cabinets or performed any work, the investigation found.

Edwards was doing business as Longevity Construction, but he was not registered as a contractor with L&I, as required by state law.

This isn’t Edwards’ first brush with the law. He faces extradition to Ohio for a 2013 theft charge in that state, and in 1987, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in King County.

Homeowners can check to see if a prospective construction contractor is registered by going to Verify.Lni.wa.gov or calling 1-888-811-5974.

Source: Washington State Department of Labor & Industries