Middleton Contractor Pleads Not Guilty to 80 Charges

A Middleton contractor accused of fleecing several victims, including an 83-year-old Beverly woman, pleaded not guilty to 80 counts in Salem Superior Court on Friday, according to the Salem News.

Jaime Ford, 46, was taken into custody in the courtroom after the judge raised Ford’s bail from $7,500 to $15,000, according to the report.

Prosecutors had been seeking $250,000 for bail.

Ford was initially held on $750,000 bail when he was arraigned on larceny and home improvement fraud charges in Salem District Court in June.

The Beverly woman was left homeless due to the defendant’s alleged numerous false statements, failure to perform work and improper disposal of asbestos found on her property, according to the Essex County District Attorney’s office.

The woman hired the defendant to build an addition onto her home so that her daughter’s family could move in with her.

The woman’s home, which she owned outright, now must be demolished and she still must pay the loan taken for the addition. The defendant also was allegedly collecting on a fraudulent worker’s compensation claim while illegally working on the contracting job.

The attorney now representing Ford claims the case is a civil, and not a criminal matter, according to the Salem News report.