Contractor sentenced on grand theft, forgery charges

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SANDPOINT — A Sagle contractor has been ordered to pay $272,172.45 in restitution for 10 counts of grand theft and three counts of forgery for contracting jobs that were never completed.

David Nathanial Story, 38, was sentenced on Nov. 1 in First District Court for appropriating money from clients for uncompleted construction projects on houses or accessory dwelling units.

The sentencing is a combination of four criminal cases brought against Story, each with a unique victim.

Story is accused of stealing more than the six-figure sum from clients between February and August 2020. However, in a Rule 11 plea agreement reached by the prosecution and defense, Story will have to pay restitution of $272,172.45, to be divided between six victims.

“This is a serious plea agreement, I don’t want to sugarcoat it,” said First District Judge Lamont Berecz. “It’s got both ends of the scale. It’s lenient, and it’s also really harsh.”

A Rule 11 plea agreement is where the prosecution and defense agree on what a potential sentence should be, and the defendant enters a plea. However if the judge decides to not impose the agreement, the defendant can recant their plea.

Berecz went on to explain the Rule 11 agreement reached between both parties.

“45 days jail with work release is very lenient in light of the amounts we’re talking about,” Berecz said. “If you were a part of some company and did this you would be going to prison, you just would.”

“On the flip side, this agreement calls that if you violate probation and you don’t make restitution right, you get 14 years of prison hanging over your head, with 10 years fixed. That's really harsh.”

In 2020, Story collected money from clients who entered into formal and “good faith” agreements with him. Though details vary from case to case, a common theme seems to be that Story would withdraw funds to purchase materials or hire subcontractors, but minimal if any work would be done on the project. Shortly after, Story would ghost his clients, complainants contend in the court records.

The prosecution argued that Story intentionally deceived his clients.

“Sadly, Mr. Story is not the only contractor in Bonner County that’s doing this,” said Deputy Prosecutor Daniel Rodriguez. “When I first got the case, I just thought he was a crook. I thought he was just taking people’s money and running. But it appears to me that Mr. Story got in over his head.”

“The victims are out more money than they’re getting back because these were the numbers we had at the time we went to mediation. But there’s more losses involved,” Rodriguez said. “The reason why it became a criminal action is the way Mr. Story acted when things got ugly.”

Judge Berecz asked Rodriguez if there was any explanation regarding how Story spent client money. Rodriguez said that there was no evidence of drug addiction or lavish spending, and that it was a series of bad business decisions that caused Story to lose client money.

“Perhaps it was all bad business decisions in the beginning, but then it turned into lies.” Rodriguez said. “Sending pictures of work that was allegedly done that wasn’t done. Lying to building suppliers about payments that are coming. Lying to the homeowners about building supplies that were purchased but weren’t. Work that was done that wasn’t.”

“Had he stopped when he realized he was in over his head, and said ‘I screwed this all up, let’s come to a civil settlement,’ we wouldn’t be here. But that’s not what he did. So that’s why this is a criminal case.”

Berecz explained to the court that the United States does not run debtors' prisons, and usually cases like this are settled in civil court, not criminal court. But the prosecution was specific in their argument for why Story needed to be tried in criminal court -- because Story behaved deceitfully.

Story told the court that he takes responsibility for his actions.

“I take responsibility for running a bad business,” Story said. “I never meant to hurt anybody. I was trying to help people build their homes. A lot of people took advantage of me. It’s my fault for not seeing it. I’m willing to take responsibility for that. And I’m willing to pay them back in the best way that I can.”

Berecz noted Story’s lack of criminal record and his lack of danger to society, but agreed with the state’s position that Story behaved criminally.

“I understand you don’t think you’re guilty of criminal wrongdoing,” Berecz said. “But big picture I tend to view it the way the state does. The deception and the lying, that’s where it changes into the criminal realm. Because you’re getting money from people, and they’re losing money. Not just because of bad business, but because you’re in over your head and you’re lying about it and getting more money.”

Berecz also considered how Story expressed remorse for the results of his actions,

“You’ve agreed to make people whole through restitution,” he said. “It gives a lot of room and a lot of time for you to show us who you really are, what your character is, and how committed you are to making things right.”

“If you do that, you’re not going to prison, and you’re going to make people whole. If that’s not who you are, then you’ll be back here before I know it. And unfortunately, you’ll be facing a significant consequence.”

On top of $272,172.45 in restitution, Story was sentenced to 10 to 14 years prison, with 14 of those years as unsupervised probation. Story will also serve 45 days local jail with work release in Nez Perce County.

If Story is able to pay the restitution in full, he will be able to pursue early termination of his sentence.