Wichita contractor ordered to repay homeowners

A Wichita contractor was ordered to serve five years of probation and pay more than $16,000 in restitution Monday over work he took payments for but never completed, the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Ricky Moyer, 30, owner of Rick’s Tree and Landscape, could land in prison for 11 months if he fails to repay two Sedgwick County homeworkers and abide by other terms of his probation. He pleaded no contest in June to one count of felony theft.

One of the homeowners who will receive restitution paid $11,000 to Moyer to cut down two trees and build a shed in 2014, the district attorney’s office said. The other paid more than $15,000 for tree trimming, sod and concrete work and shed construction. Both hired other contractors to complete the jobs, the office said.

Moyer has claimed he didn’t steal the money and was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit. When a defendant pleads no contest, he or she neither admits or disputes allegations, but the immediate effect is the same as pleading guilty.

This story was originally published August 23, 2016 at 4:18 PM with the headline "Wichita contractor ordered to repay homeowners."