JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Sixteen months after being exposed by the News4JAX I-TEAM for ripping off customers who paid for fence work that was never done, the owner of Father and Sons Fence Company in Jacksonville has been sentenced to one year in jail.
Glen Northrup, 65, was in a Duval County courtroom late Wednesday afternoon where he learned his fate after pleading guilty last month to felony organized fraud. The I-TEAM began investigating Northrup back in June of 2022 when customers contacted us for help to either get their money back or get their fence work completed. Ultimately, more than 20 customers came forward to us saying they paid Northrup thousands of dollars in deposits for various fence projects, but the work was never done.
PREVIOUS I-TEAM STORY: Customers out thousands of dollars after paying deposits for fence work that wasn’t done
And despite Northrup telling the I-TEAM at that time that he would be selling items to pay people back, customers did not receive refunds or get their fence work done. In August, Northrup was charged with organized fraud.
Detective Harold Chapman with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office testified during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing that there were 25 victims who had been located and all of them had similar stories after they received estimates from Father and Sons Fence Company.
“They’d provide half the money with a scheduled date to start and complete the work and then they would not hear from him, and when they would contact him, there were a variety of excuses such as labor shortages, COVID, the flu, equipment issues,” he said. “Eventually, they just stopped getting callbacks.”
Northrup has consistently told the I-TEAM he intended to pay people back, blaming COVID and his eviction from the property where he worked and lived for causing him to fall on hard times. He asked the judge for probation.
“I’m not a crook. I’m not a conman,” Northrup said. “I’ve been in business to take care of people and I’ve always took care of people. You know, I’m at the mercy of the court and the only thing I know is that I want to get these people paid back because it’s my responsibility.”
But the prosecutor argued Northrup knew his business was in a bad situation but still continued to take money from people who were elderly, on a fixed income, or on a tight budget knowing he could not do the job he was paid to do.
“He ran a reputable business until he did not run a reputable business,” said Assistant State Attorney Stephen Siegel. “Mr. Northrup is not the first businessman in the history of Jacksonville or any other community to recognize that there comes a time to stop. There’s a point at which you have to close the doors and when someone wants to give you money, you tell them ‘No, I can’t continue to take your money because I won’t be able to do your work.’”
Siegel credited the I-TEAM for its investigation which led to this criminal case. He went on to tell the judge that because Northrup’s actions affected so many people both financially and emotionally, he should face time behind bars. Siegel said that the sentence handed down should be one that lets people know they should come forward and report similar situations because there will in fact be a resolution if they do.
Judge Tatiana Salvador said she weighed everything in making her decision including the fact that Northrup had no criminal history and had run a successful fence business for many years. But she said she can’t ignore the number of victims.
“This isn’t a one-off or a two-off. This is 20 to 25 people who for whatever reason didn’t get a response from you, didn’t get a call back from you, didn’t get a letter from you,” she said.
Besides the one-year jail sentence, Salvador sentenced Northrup to 12 years of probation during which time he will have to pay restitution to his victims.
Copyright 2023 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.
