Contractor Found Guilty of Criminal Charges-From the Metrowest News

Contractor sentenced to 3-5 years in prison By Norman Miller/Daily News staff GHS Wed Dec 19, 2007, 11:44 PM EST

CAMBRIDGE - A Leominster contractor accused of bilking customers in Natick, Marlborough and Arlington out of thousands of dollars in unfinished work was sentenced to state prison yesterday.
Michael J. Corda, 50, was sentenced to three to five years in prison and to pay a yet-to-be-determined amount of restitution to the homeowners.
Corda, who owned Northeast Building and Design, was found guilty by a jury of seven counts of larceny of more than $250 and 16 counts of 142A violations, which is the law that prohibits certain acts by home contractors.
"When homeowners enter into an agreement with a contractor, they deserve to be dealt with honestly and to get the services that they paid for," District Attorney Gerry Leone said. "This contractor violated the trust of these homeowners and took thousands of dollars from them for work that he had no intention of performing."
Corda was indicted by a Middlesex grand jury on Sept. 26, 2006. Authorities said he agreed to five contracts in Natick and one each in Marlborough and Arlington.
Assistant District Attorney Elisha Willis said during Corda's trial he never intended to fulfill the services he promised in the contracts. She said Corda knew he did not have the resources to complete the jobs, and did not complete any of the services.
All of the incidents took place between November 2003 and August 2005. Along with the prison term and the restitution, Corda will be on probation for seven years after he gets out of prison. He will also be banned from working as a home contracting project manager in Massachusetts.
(Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or at nmiller@cnc.com.)