Man sentenced for construction frauds

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A Kent County contractor has been sentenced after scamming customers out of thousands of dollars.

Jason Cooper, 33, pleaded no contest in December 2012 to two counts of false pretenses between $1,000 and $20,000. On Monday, he was sentenced to six months in jail and five years probation.

Cooper of AJK Home Improvements was arrested in October 2012 in connection to five fraud complaints. In each case, police say, Cooper was paid money for construction work that was never started or completed.

Among those victims was Dr. Greg Fraley. He told 24 Hour News 8 in October that in November 2011 Cooper asked for about $3,000 -- about 60% of the total $5,000 estimate -- up front to cover material expenses to fix a barn roof.

Fraley paid him but said Cooper never came back to finish the task.