The owner of a paving business is heading to prison after admitting to stealing money from his customers and disappearing without ever doing the work.
William Pusateri, who operated Priority 1 Paving, pleaded guilty to a series of larceny charges in Middlesex Superior Court on Monday and received a two-year prison sentence.
Homeowners who lost hard-earned savings were hoping for a harsher sentence. However, they left the courtroom disappointed.
Pusateri was the focus of our “To Catch a Contractor” investigation last year, which detailed allegations of financially steamrolling customers all over the Boston area.
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Victims included the elderly, public servants, single parents, and a Natick homeowner with special needs. Many of the people had shared their stories with the NBC10 Boston Investigators.
Pusateri was arraigned on a 23-count indictment last January, including stealing from people over age 60 and theft from a person with a disability. The financial losses from those incidents totaled nearly $80,000.
Maria Riefstahl, a Watertown mother of two kids, gave a victim impact statement in court about losing her $2,000 deposit.
“I felt angry and helpless,” Riefstahl said. “How many chances should I give someone who made a conscious decision to steal my hard-earned money from me and my children?”
Investigations
Virginia Mucciacchio, a 93-year-old Dedham homeowner, told the judge how she lost $6,000 to the paver. It was even more of a gut punch because Mucciacchio had known Pusateri for years since he’d grown up nearby.
“I’m embarrassed how you scammed me,” Mucchacchio said, directing her gaze at Pusateri. “Billy, I know you can’t look me in the eye.”
During the hearing, Pusateri offered no apology to victims, only giving a vague explanation of what went wrong.
“I couldn’t withstand the phone calls and the troubles that were coming in and the snowball effect took me down,” Pusateri said.
Middlesex County prosecutors asked for prison time of five to seven years, considering the paver’s previous criminal history. Pusateri was convicted of a similar scheme in Worcester County a decade ago and spent three years in prison.
However, Judge James Budreau opted for a shorter stint behind bars. He imposed a prison term of two years, followed by three years of probation.
“I understand this is not necessarily the sentence that you want,” Budreau told victims in the courtroom. “We have to consider whether or not we could change someone’s behavior because there is a history here. I believe that fashioning the sentence this way is best for everyone.”
Pusateri has been locked up since shortly after our investigation aired last year. That means he will get credit for the more than 500 days he’s already spent in jail.
Upon release, Pusateri will be required to complete an “intense supervision” program at a Community Justice Support Center, Budreau said.
Kate Merritt-O’Toole is a Framingham homeowner who first reached out to NBC10 Boston after seeing our "To Catch a Contractor" series.
She had assembled a group of victims by connecting through negative online reviews, but still struggled to get the attention of law enforcement.
Merritt-O’Toole eventually got her $2,000 back, the only victim to get a refund, but she believes Pusateri was only trying to silence her.
After giving her own impact statement, Merritt-O’Toole did not mince words outside the courtroom.
“I’m pissed. I’m really pissed,” she said. “This clearly demonstrates escalated criminal activity and why he got off with less time is mind-boggling.”
Ryan Kath can be reached at ryan.kath@nbcuni.com. You can follow him on Twitter, Instagram or connect on Facebook.
