Roofing Scammers Who Targeted Older Adults In Marin County Get Prison Time: DA

MARIN COUNTY, CA — Two men who posed as roofing contractors and stole over $340,000 from older adults in Marin County have been sent to prison, according to the Marin County District Attorney’s office.

John McNamara, 49, and Dean Morgan, 34, will each serve 3 years and 8 months for their roles in the scam. They admitted to cheating four different people, ranging in age from 78 to 85, in March 2024, prosecutors said.

McNamara and Morgan, along with others who haven't been caught yet, pretended to work for a fake business called "Nashes Roofing & Construction" supposedly based in San Francisco, prosecutors said. They specifically went after older people, traveling across the Bay Area, Sacramento, and even Colorado. They would trick victims into signing contracts for roofing and construction work, complete with believable-looking business cards and fake websites, prosecutors said.

Sometimes, the scammers would just show up at a victim's home, claiming the roof needed immediate, serious repairs. They would demand huge down payments, often much more than legally allowed, and then disappear without doing much, if any, actual work, prosecutors said.

Both McNamara and Morgan had been caught before for similar roofing schemes. They were convicted in Colorado in March 2025, and Morgan was also convicted in Sacramento County. Because of those prior cases, their total prison time will be 9 years and 8 months each, prosecutors said.

California law sets limits on down payments. A contractor can only accept a deposit of $1,000 or 10 percent of the total contract price, whichever amount is smaller. Charging more than that is against the law, prosecutors said.