Contractor Sentenced To 12 Years For Defrauding 6 Fairfax Families

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — A 76-year-old contractor convicted of defrauding six Fairfax County families was sentenced Thursday to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution, according to the Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.

Richard Tadlock was sentenced Thursday after a Fairfax County jury convicted him in June of five counts of failing to perform construction work valued at more than $1,000 and one count of obtaining money by false pretenses.

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A judge sentenced Tadlock to five years in prison with three years suspended on each of the six counts, leaving him with a total of 12 years of active incarceration, Commonwealth's Attorney Steve Descano said.

Families Hired Contractor To Build Custom Homes

Tadlock had worked in construction in Virginia since 1990 and most recently owned T&S Homebuilders, a company that built custom homes, according to prosecutors.

The six victims were Fairfax County homeowners who hired Tadlock between 2021 and 2023 to demolish existing houses, build custom homes or both. The construction work totaled about $1.2 million, prosecutors said.

During Tadlock's trial, prosecutors presented evidence that he performed no construction work on four of the homes. Two other houses were left partially built, even though the families had paid Tadlock for additional work that was never completed, according to the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office.

All six families sent demand letters to Tadlock in July 2023. Prosecutors said Tadlock did not respond to the letters, leading the homeowners to contact police.

Victims Describe Financial, Emotional Toll

At Thursday's sentencing hearing, victims spent more than five hours testifying about the financial and emotional effects of Tadlock's actions, according to prosecutors.

Some testified that they lost their life savings. They also described years of dealing with Tadlock as among the worst periods of their lives, causing strain on marriages and taking new parents' attention away from their children, prosecutors said.

"Some people might not think that white collar crime is important, but fraud cases like this can steal a family's life savings and ruin their future," Descano said in a statement. "Financial crimes can be devastating to victims and deserve to be prosecuted with the same level of seriousness and professionalism that our office brings to any criminal case."