February 3, 2016 at 4:28 p.m.
Man who skipped sentencing for contractor fraud back in court
Schmitt located in L.A. after 7 months
Man who skipped sentencing for contractor fraud back in court
Daniel E. Schmitt, 46, owner of Advanced Cleaning of Park Falls, was charged in 2013 with theft in a business setting (over $10,000) and two counts of forgery in 2014. He is accused of accepting $225,965.25 to restore a couple's home after a Sept. 27, 2012 fire damaged part of it. Instead of completing the work, Schmitt is alleged to have used some of the money on other things, including personal expenses. He was also charged with two felony forgery counts in Price County that were consolidated with the Oneida County charges.
On April 30, 2015 before Branch II Judge Michael Bloom, Schmitt pled no contest to the theft in a business setting charge, a class G felony. As part of a plea agreement, the Price County charges and the remaining Oneida County charges were to be dismissed but read in for purposes of sentencing. Bloom then set the matter for sentencing on May 26 to give Schmitt time to arrange to pay restitution to the victims.
Schmitt failed to appear at the sentencing hearing. He also failed to wire a promised $10,000 to his attorney Gary Cirilli for partial restitution to the victims, prompting Bloom to issue a warrant for his arrest.
According to online court records, Oneida County received word on Jan. 8 that Schmitt was being held in Los Angeles on the warrant. He did not fight extradition and was brought back to the Oneida County Jail on Jan. 26.
He appeared via video before Bloom later that day for a bail hearing. His $5,000 signature bond was revoked at that time.
On Monday, Schmitt again appeared by video from the jail, this time with Cirilli in the courtroom. Bloom set a March 17 date for a new sentencing hearing.
Schmitt faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine up to $25,000 in addition to restitution.
The case has been slowly inching forward for nearly 18 months.
According to the criminal complaint, the alleged victims contacted the Oneida County Sheriff's Department in early October 2013 to report that the work on their home was not anywhere near complete and various subcontractors were seeking payment.
The couple told investigators that Schmitt forged signatures on two checks from their insurance company for the repair work, yet later told them he did not have enough money to finish the work. When investigators looked into the case, they found that Schmitt had written checks to several material suppliers that had bounced.
Schmitt made his initial appearance before Bloom on Oct. 31, 2013. On Jan. 2, 2014, Schmitt waived a preliminary hearing. Several hearings were scheduled in the case only to be postponed. On May 5, 2014, Cirilli requested additional time so his client could settle on a restitution amount. The case was scheduled to go to trial in late October but was postponed again.
On Nov. 11, a request to consolidate the case with the Price County charges was made.
On Nov. 18, Cirilli told Bloom that Schmitt was close to finalizing a deal for a loan that would allow him to "make the victims whole" in both cases. He requested another pretrial conference in February 2015 to allow time to finalize that deal.
Schiek agreed to the request.
Schmitt later accepted a plea agreement that was contingent on him paying at least $10,000 in restitution by sentencing.
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