Scammer gets prison in latest scheme

Months after a conviction for scamming an elderly person, Michael Auxier was back up to his old tricks.

And now he’ll be spending the next two years in prison.

Phillip Mathes was hosting a garage sale at his Apopka home in December when Auxier, who lived down the street, showed up. Auxier, 52, noticed some loose wires outside the house and told Mathes he was an electrician and could fix it.

The problem was Auxier was not licensed to do electrical work — in fact, his probation barred him from doing so. He had previously been convicted of bilking a 72-year-old woman out of $11,000 in March 2017.

In that case, he told the woman she had faulty could cause a fire.

He ended up doing very little work.

Auxier pleaded no contest to theft of a person 65 years or older and unlawful contracting and was sentenced to 10 years probation in June 2017. He was ordered to repay the victim, as well as a second woman who came forward after his case was reported in the media.

He went to Mathes’ garage sale in December. Auxier said he’d do the work for $6,500, but Mathes contacted another contractor — who came back with an estimate of $2,500.

According to Mathes, Auxier also said he’d only take the job if it paid in cash.

“That’s when the red flag came up,” said Mathes, who did not give any money to Auxier. wiring that

Mathes did an online search for Auxier and found he news articles about his scams, some of which were out of state.

Detectives with the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office said Auxier scammed two people out of nearly $60,000 after floods in the Baton Rouge, La., area in the fall of 2016. He also settled in court with a third person, officials say.

Auxier and his business partner, Maria Avare, have warrants for fraud and working as unlicensed contractors and will be extradited back there at some point, officials said.

Auxier also has a warrant for identity theft in Mississippi and served prison time for fraud in Kentucky, police said.

After discovering Auxier’s background, Mathes called the cops in Apopka.

“The estimate for the services was more than $4,000 higher than a licensed contractor provided by the victim’s insurance company, the defendant is not a licensed contractor,” wrote Apopka police Det. Mark Creaser in an arrest affidavit. “In fact [the defendant] is on probation and prohibited from offering services of electrical work or to have any business dealings with persons over 65 years old.”

Police arrested Auxier in February on a unlawful contracting without a license charge and violation of probation.

Auxier pleaded no contest on June 18 and was sentenced to two years in prison.