NAPA (BCN) -- An unlicensed Napa contractor has been ordered to pay full  restitution to three customers he defrauded or he faces a six-year prison  term, the Contractors State Licensing Board said this week.

Ronald Russell Clawson, 27, pleaded no contest in Napa County  Superior Court last week to elder abuse, identity theft, grand theft and  fraudulent use of a contractor license number, CSLB spokeswoman Venus  Stromberg said.

As part of his plea, he will receive six months in jail, three  years probation and pay restitution to his victims. If he violates his  probation and doesn't make restitution to the victims, he faces a six-year  prison term, Stromberg said.

Napa County Sheriff's Office deputies contacted the CSLB in March  after a 75-year-old blind and hearing impaired Napa man said Clawson didn't  construct three small sheds on his rental property in Yountville, Stromberg  said.

Clawson also failed to get permits from the local building  department for the $8,000 project, the CSLB said.

A Napa woman also claimed she paid Clawson $8,000 to remodel her  kitchen but he abandoned the project and left her stove in her living room,  Stromberg said.

Gary Cole Clawson, of Clawson Engineering in Arroyo Grande in San  Luis Obispo County, notified the CSLB that a Fairfield consumer he never met  had filed a claim against his bond, Stromberg said.

The Fairfield resident paid Russell Clawson $5,300 to build and  install an entertainment center that was never delivered, the CSLB said.

The CSLB discovered Ronald Russell Clawson used Gary Cole  Clawson's contractor license number on his business cards, claiming he was  the licensee's son. Gary Cole Clawson indicated his business did not involve  any of his relatives, the CSLB said.

The agreement requires Clawson to make full restitution for the  incomplete sheds and the undelivered entertainment center, Stromberg said.

A hearing on Jan 6 will determine how much he owes the Napa woman  for the unfinished kitchen project. An industry expert estimates it will cost  more than $45,000 to correct that unfinished project, the CSLB said.

The January hearing also will determine whether the fraudulent use  of Gary Clawson's license caused economic loss which would also entitle him  to restitution, Stromberg said.

Clawson is scheduled to be sentenced April 10, 2010 in Napa County  Superior Court. If he fails to make full restitution to all the victims by  then, the court could place him on a payment schedule.

If all the victims are repaid by April 19, the felony charges  against him will be reduced to misdemeanor offenses, Stromberg said.
     
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