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OFFENSE AND ARREST REPORTS

On November 18th and 19th , members of the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division, along with members of Okaloosa County Code Enforcement, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Florida Department of Financial Services Division of Insurance Fraud and Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Compliance, and Florida Department of Law Enforcement conducted an operation focusing on identifying unlicensed contractors who advertise and perform general construction, plumbing and electrical work.

Over the two day operation, 14 appointments were made between undercover agents and individuals wherein agreements were made to perform multiple construction related improvements for the exchange of monetary compensation. The operation resulted in 10 misdemeanor and 3 felony arrests. Additionally there were 18 Cease and Desist orders, 9 County Code violations, and 9 Requests for Records through Worker’s Compensation which could result in additional charges.

Citizens of Okaloosa County should be reminded to thoroughly vet potential contractors and report any unlicensed contracting to the County Code Enforcement at 850-651-7531 or 850-423-4855. In addition to violating the law, the use of unlicensed contractors could have serious, negative impacts on a property owner’s ability to sell his or her property. In the wake of the recent real estate foreclosure crisis, many lending institutions, title agencies, and insurance companies routinely check with local building departments to verify that all necessary permits and inspections have been received for any work done on a property. Unlicensed contracting is often accompanied by unpermitted construction; when this occurs, the property owner can be burdened with having to obtain after-the-fact permits which are often more costly than regular permits. In addition, under certain circumstances property owners who knowingly hire an unlicensed contractor can also be found guilty of violating the law.

Those charged with violations are:

Albert McNew of A&M Remodeling and Painting

Christopher Levesque of 888 Cool Heating and Air Conditioning

Robert Delbert Arms of 888 Cool Heating and Air Conditioning

Jakub Mokros of ALJ’s Construction

Raymond Rivera of Central Painting and Restoration Services

Jacques Savard of Construction Concierge

Anthony Alina-Morales of Just Do it Electrical and Handyman Services

Shane Capps of Shane Capps Enterprises LLC

James David Marsh of Shane Capps Enterprises LLC

Sean Moore of M. Moore Construction LLC

Frederick Miron of Miron Services

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