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The landscape contractor, Edilberto Heredia, must also spend three years on supervised probation and pay restitution in an amount to be determined at an April hearing. The sentence is 100 days less than the maximum Heredia faced when he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor contracting without a license. The term is “reasonable,” said the Chief Deputy District Attorney In return for the plea, prosecutors dropped charges against his wife who ran a nursery supplying the plants used in the man’s landscaping.
In July 2008, Heredia worked for the victim’s neighbor and was asked to do some minor landscaping. Heredia did the work but authorities alleged he pushed the man into more projects and took an excessive down payment followed by the hefty cost of the labor and plants. Heredia charged the man $120,000 but an expert from the state Contractors Board later concluded the work was only worth $84,000.
Even worse, according to authorities, is that the man will spend another $70,000 to repair the lackluster work. The $13,000 price tag for plants and labor included a single cherry tree sold for $3,650.
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