Contractor sentenced to 4 years in jail
A North Andover man was sentenced to serve four years in the Essex County House of Correction for failing to build more than 20 sunrooms for homeowners as promised by his company, the now shuttered American Sunroom Co. Inc.
James Brien, 60, was also sentenced to serve 10 years of probation and pay $365,586 in restitution to his victims after completing his sentence.
Essex Superior Court Judge Maureen Hogan sentenced Brien less than two months after finding him guilty of criminal charges in a nine-day trial.
After the nonjury trial, Brien was found guilty of 23 counts of violating the state Home Improvement Contractor statute by failing to provide services promised in contracts.
The sentencing closes a case first investigated by the state attorney general’s office in 2004 following allegations that Brien failed to install sunrooms for homeowners yet accepted more than $450,000 in the process.
In many cases, he started but never finished construction projects, investigators said.
Massachusetts filed a civil complaint against Brien in 2004 and three years later won a $2 million civil judgment against him.
Brien’s attorney could not be reached for comment yesterday.
