Ex-owner of tornado shelter company gets sentenced in embezzlement case
The former owner of a tornado shelter company has been ordered to pay more than $100,000 in restitution to defrauded customers, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter announced Monday.
William Jay Stephens, 56, of Muskogee, pleaded no contest Monday in Cleveland County District Court to six counts of embezzlement and one count of a pattern of criminal offenses. He also was sentenced to serve five years probation.
He was accused in the felony case of defrauding customers who paid Tornado King Inc. for shelters that were never installed.
“Oklahomans trying to protect their loved ones were left vulnerable by Stephens’ greed,” Hunter said Monday. “I am proud of the dedication by the agents and attorneys in the Consumer Protection Unit who worked tirelessly to ensure victims in this case were made whole and that Stephens was held liable.”
As part of a plea agreement, Stephens is ordered to pay $101,403 in restitution to the victims, according to a news release. The AG’s office reported Stephens is no longer in the storm shelter business and believes the location is now closed.
The AG’s office began investigating Tornado King after receiving multiple complaints by customers, according to the release. Investigators initially reported that Stephens stole more than $41,000 from six customers between February 2016 and April 2016, according to a court affidavit. Some victims met Stephens at lawn and garden shows, according to investigators. The victims later gave Tornado King full or partial payments for shelter installations, investigators reported.
When work wasn’t completed, Stephens would give excuses for the delays and eventually become unresponsive, according to the affidavit.
Stephens could not be reached by telephone Monday.
At least one victim in the felony case sued Tornado King.
That victim paid the company $10,295. That lawsuit in Le Flore County is pending, records show.
In 2015, an Oklahoma County woman sued Tornado King after an installed shelter “rusted through and began leaking,” documents show. In March, a judge awarded the woman a $50,000 judgment against Tornado King.