Jury hung in case of contractor accused of defrauding homeowners
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BLACKFOOT – The trial against a contractor accused of fraud has concluded, and a resolution has not been achieved for him or the homeowners he allegedly defrauded.
Brandon Cook was charged in 2024 with grand theft by false promise as well as an enhanced charge of being a persistent violator, in response to accusations of defrauding homeowners who contracted him for construction work. On Thursday, his two-day trial concluded when the jury could not reach a verdict, resulting in a mistrial.
The prosecution declined to comment on the result for EastIdahoNews.com. It’s unclear if the case will be retried, as another court date has not been set.
“(It’s) a victory for my client,” said defense attorney John Malek. “Not the unqualified victory that we were hoping for, but we look forward to talking to the state about hopefully resolving this for good in my client’s favor.”
EastIdahoNews.com previously reported on the accusations levied against Cook by a number of homeowners who hired the contractor. Read about that here.
Had Cook been convicted, he would have faced a sentence of anywhere between six years in prison to life. While the charge of grand theft carries a penalty of one to 14 years, being charged as a persistent violator carries an enhancement of five years to life.
The trial revolved around a contract Cook signed to build a home extension for a property owner named Cody Hawker.
“(In my opening statement) I told you that you would be surprised how easy it will be to find Mr. Cook guilty as charged,” said Deputy Prosecutor Fred Wheeler in his closing statement.
The jury spent three hours deliberating before coming to the conclusion that they were deadlocked.
Wheeler told the jury that the prosecution had proved that Cook intended to defraud Hawker, and never intended to complete his home addition. He also pointed to a pattern of behavior with other homeowners, where he said Cook was quick to respond when it came to accepting a job and receiving a paycheck, but not completing the work.
“He was asked to come out numerous times. He finally did come out in June, we believe … he removed the siding … and he also apparently cut a board on the deck. Roughly a couple hours of demolition work … that’s the extent of the work Mr. Hawker received,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler said Hawker was never given a schedule of when the work would be finished, and pointed out how Cook always said he had another job to perform before he could work on Hawker’s.
When Cook brought up canceling Hawker’s contract, Hawker asked for a timeline on when he would receive a refund. Hawker never received that refund for the amount he paid, which was $32,663.10.
Wheeler listed off a number of examples of similar behavior from Cook with other property owners.
“When you look at the pattern, it is incredibly easy to hold Mr. Cook accountable and find him guilty,” Cook said.
In the defense’s closing statement, Malek contended that what Cook was actually guilty of was “being bad at business.”
“One is not criminally liable for grand theft by fraud, for being bad at business, for having unhappy clients, for having uncompleted work. And the state has given you a lot of evidence of those things, because … they want you to decide (he’s a) bad guy who makes bad decisions, and you should punish him,’ but that’s not the standard,” Malek said.
Malek argued that the promised work not being completed was not enough to find Cook guilty, pointing out that scheduling issues, overextension and Cook’s bankruptcy could explain the incomplete work.
“There hasn’t been a finding of fraud or an attempt to mask these debts as anything other than what they were. Business debts for a failed business,” Malek said.
EastIdahoNews.com will update this article if a new court date is scheduled.