Fourth judgment against local contractor

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A local contractor who accepted tens of thousands of dollars in deposits for contracts that never broke ground was ordered in First District Court to refund his client’s money.

Veasy Glenn, doing business as Glenn Construction, was ordered by Magistrate Judge Lori Meulenberg to refund a client his deposit of $7,639 for a pole barn that was never constructed in 2019.

“You know, we can step outside,” Robert Lee Giesick said to Glenn during the judgment hearing.

Meulenberg asked Glenn if he would like to step outside, saying that the court prefers these types of cases to be settled outside of court proceedings.

“Not really, I don’t think it would be productive,” Glenn responded.

Judge Meulenberg had to call to the hearing to order multiple times to tell Giesick that he could not point at Glenn or call him names.

“I want this guy in jail because he’s done this to other people,” Giesick said.

“I’m not ordering Mr. Glenn to jail,” Meulenberg responded.

“Well, you should be,” Giesick retorted.

After a brief silence, the hearing proceeded for another hour. Mr. Glenn admitted to breaching a contract made in April 2019, and that he would like to pay Giesick what he is owed.

The two made an informal agreement in April 2019 for Glenn to construct a pole barn on his property to be used as a shop and storage space, according to court documents. Glenn asked for 50% of the money upfront to order materials and save Giesick’s spot in line. Giesick paid Glenn a deposit of $12,420 and construction was set to begin in the early fall.

In July 2020, Glenn told Giesick that he would be unable to complete construction, and later refunded $5,000 of the original deposit. Eleven months later, Giesick filed suit against Glenn for the remainder of the deposit.

Meulenberg ruled in Giesick’s favor, ordering Glenn to pay $7,639.

“I don’t have any control in how you collect it,” Meulenberg said before adjourning the hearing.

The highest moments of tension were outside of the courtroom. Giesick followed Glenn to the front staircase, yelling down to Glenn that they could take care of things outside. Glenn responded saying that he wished he could return the money. The two were separated by a bailiff and made to leave the courthouse at separate times.

This is the fourth judgment against Glenn — all for similar situations. Altogether, Glenn owes his prospective clients $67,834. Three additional victims have come forward saying Glenn owes them money as well.

According to documentation from three additional victims, Glenn owes upwards of $200,000.

All seven victims describe a similar chain of events. They would enter into formal or informal agreements with Glenn. He would ask for either 25% or 50% of the cost of the build to order materials and book their spot in line. Then he would delay the deadlines for building and completing the projects. In most cases, Glenn would never return the money. Two victims received bad checks for sums greater than $10,000.

Earlier this year, Glenn accidentally gave one of his clients the contact information to another, they connected, and discovered they were in similar situations. It wasn’t too long before they began to find others.

“We all realize that at the end of everything we probably won't ever get our money back, but the one thing we can do is keep him from getting other people’s money,” said a client who chose not to go on record.

According to statements from two separate victims, Glenn told them that he had used their deposit money to pay back other unsatisfied clients.

“He knew on that day that he wasn’t going to buy our lumber. He has no empathy,” said the victim who provided bank documents showing a $50,000 deposit paid to Glenn.

Many of the individuals waiting to receive refunds from Glenn did not want to go on record because they are afraid that Glenn will never refund their money if they did so.

“I’m more interested in a criminal prosecution rather than a civil judgment,” said Jon Hixson, a client of Glenn’s who agreed to go on record.

The two entered into a contract on March 30 to build Hixson’s “dream barn.” Glenn kept delaying the project until agreeing to refund the deposit in September. Hixson said he still has not received any money from Glenn, and would not go on record about how much Glenn owed him.

Glenn Construction has been in business for over 15 years, according to information from the Better Business Bureau.

“Things went bad and we decided to close the business,” Glenn said during Monday’s hearing.

Although he was not able to be reached for comment, in many documents provided by victim’s to the Daily Bee, Glenn apologizes for being unable to complete the job, and expressed desire to refund the deposit money along with interest and other incurred costs.

“I am 100% committed to taking care of this at earliest possible moment, but it is going to require more time than I thought.” he sent in a text message to one of his victims after defaulting on a contract earlier this year.

After defaulting on a different contract, Glenn texted the victim saying that he was “liquidating everything” and that he would “die trying” to get their money back to them.

“If I was a crook like you say I am, I would have fled the country.” Glenn told Giesick during the hearing.