Woman defrauded out of $5,000 for kitchen reno

A Niagara Falls woman learned the hard way that Facebook friends may not be the most trustworthy. Roberto Venditti, 52, pleaded guilty Thursday in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines to a charge of fraud under $5,000 after he offered to do a kitchen renovation but then failed to follow through. In June 2016, court was told, a Niagara woman asked her Facebook friends to recommend someone to renovate her kitchen. Soon after the posting, Venditti contacted the woman, saying he was a contractor and could do the project. The defendant took the woman to a cabinet shop in Niagara Falls and she selected cabinets, hardware and countertops. She gave Venditti $4,000 as a down payment on the project. Six days later, court was told, the woman returned home to find Venditti passed out on her front porch. He begged her to stay because he had no where else to go and then asked her for prescription medication. The victim checked with the cabinet store and was told no order had been placed on her behalf by Venditti. When she demanded her money back, court was told, the defendant told her the money was gone. Defence counsel Brandon Chase told Judge Tory Colvin his client had intended to complete the job but “used the money for other means.” When asked about restitution, Chase said Venditti could pay $50 a month. At that rate, it would take four years for him to reimburse the victim, which the judge said was far too long. “I want to see him take steps to pay this back,” Colvin said. The judge adjourned sentencing until October “to see how much progress he has made in restitution.” If he is well on his way to paying the restitution, Colvin said he would agree to a joint submission of probation. If little progress has been made, the judge added, he would consider a period behind bars as a disposition. Selling stolen firearms online could prove costly for a Niagara Falls man. Mark Hamerton, 47, appeared in Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines on Thursday and pleaded guilty to 10 offences including several counts of possession of property obtained by crime and careless storage of a firearm. Assistant Crown attorney Andrew Brown said Niagara Regional Police in August 2016 executed search warrants at two homes in Niagara Falls following an investigation into a string of break-ins across the region. Police seized numerous stolen items including three firearms, hockey cards, jewelry, tools and electronics such as televisions, laptop computers and gaming systems. “The defendant says he was not involved in the thefts but suspected the property he received was stolen,” Brown told Judge Peter Wilkie. Brown said Hamerton set up an account on Kijiji and sold several of the stolen items, including three firearms. The judge ordered a pre-sentence report be prepared on the first-time offender prior to sentencing. Hamerton is scheduled to return to court in August.