The Effects of Gambling...Chalmette Contractor Admits Repair Fraud

From the Times Picayune - Oct. 15, 2008 - St. Bernard Bureau

A Chalmette Contractor has pleaded guilty to bilking clients out of money they advanced him to repair Hurricane Katrina-damaged homes nad must pay the clients back or face fail time.

If Lyle Torres does not repay the $213,000 during the five years of his probation, he must serve 10-year sentences on each of the eight counts of felony theft exceeding $500 as part of a sentence imposed by state District Judge Kirk Vaughn in District Court in St. Bernard Parish.

Torres, 38, 45 E. Carmack Drive, must also receive counseling for gambling addiction and refrain from gambling as part of the sentence. Torres was paid by customers for construction work he never performed or completed, the Sheriffs Office said.

Torres, who has been jailed in St. Bernard Parish since his arrest in July, has been transferred to a prison in St. Tammy Parish, where he also faces a criminal charge involving contractor-related fraud, according to a news release fro the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office