Shady Metro Detroit contractors sentenced after household remodeling disasters

MT. CLEMENS, Mich. (FOX 2) – A contractor who cheated various men and women is headed to jail, although his wife who helped him was sentenced to probation.

Darrin Ballard is a conman builder featured in a Corridor of Disgrace story in the summer time of 2020. Right after that tale, other victims came ahead, foremost to far more tales.

There was also his wife Caroline who tried using to just take the heat off Darrin when Rob Wolchek confronted him, but she ended up just implicating herself in the plan.

Wolchek: “Do you come to feel bad about this?”

Caroline: “No remark.”

Wolchek: “I kinda experience like you acquired tricked by Darrin into performing all this.  Did you?”

Caroline: “No remark.”

In 2020, Michelle compensated a enterprise known as Hatt Design to do some remodeling, but got a lousy sensation when meant contractor Darrin Ballard kept putting off her job. And when he did show up just walked in her door.

When she googled the guy, he located out he was a lifelong felon with tons of fraud convictions in his earlier. And in the current, he never finished her reworking.

After FOX 2 aired that story., Wolchek heard from Steve, Sterna, Jennifer, Lance, and Marlene., who all stated Darrin Ballard and Hatt Building took their money and possibly did awful function or no operate at all.

When Wolchek confronted Darrin, he denied he was jogging a fraud: “Yeah yeah.  I ripped off folks prolonged back…I will not do that any longer.”

And when requested accomplishing jobs with out a contractor’s license, anything he’d been convicted of many instances, Caroline Ballard admitted she’s the owner of Hatt Development.

Caroline: “I comprehend that you have a trouble with his felony file but if you appear at me and my history and yeah, I am younger. It’s possible I did not know I experienced to have a contractor’s license.”

Wolchek: “So why really don’t you  get a contractor’s license?”

Caroline: “I really don’t know just how to go about that.  I’m new to this. I have only experienced this corporation for three many years.”

Following that, Wolchek achieved Francine. Darrin and Caroline Ballard promised to develop her a new kitchen. As a substitute, they demolished her kitchen and still left her on your own, in a wheelchair, in a pandemic, in a house that now experienced no kitchen area and no flooring.

Warren police saw the story and before long arrested the pair.

Past thirty day period, Caroline Ballard pleaded no contest to getting a contractor without the need of a license, a misdemeanor, and no contest to attempted phony pretenses extra than a thousand pounds.

She was sentenced very last 7 days to probation, group assistance and restitution to her victims, like Francine, of pretty much $14,000.

Wolchek: “You know Francine is a good lady. You know that. You sense poor about that?”

Caroline: “You have a great working day now.  No comment.”

And now Darrin is currently being sentenced in Decide Joseph Toia’s Macomb County Circuit courtroom.

He pleaded no contest to felony wrong pretenses, misdemeanor wrong pretenses and remaining a contractor without having a license.  And Darrin is a habitual offender, so he’s in massive issues.

Just before court docket, Wolchek spoke to him.

Wolchek: “I hope you get your stuff jointly. You gotta give up messing up gentleman. You do not want to go to jail yet again do you?”

Darrin: “No sir.”

But he is likely to jail, and he is aware of it.

“To my wife and my household, I appreciate you. And any person else I have squandered their time, I am just really sorry, and I want to make it suitable,” he mentioned.

Darrin was sentenced to a 12 months in county jail furthermore $10,000 in restitution.

And the ballad of Ballard arrives to a shut. Let us hope there are no extra verses.