Man pleads guilty to felony theft after roof-repair scam

HOT SPRINGS -- A Little Rock man who is a felon with a lengthy criminal history pleaded guilty Monday to a felony theft charge stemming from a scam involving repairs to a local woman's roof last year.

Howard Gene Hickman, 61, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to one count of theft of property over $5,000, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and was sentenced to six years supervised probation, fined $500 and ordered to pay $190 in court costs.

Hickman was convicted in Cabot in March 2014 of 36 felony counts of theft and was sentenced to six months in the Department of Community Corrections.

According to information from the Lonoke County Sheriff's Office, the thefts involved a phony business Hickman was running, Gene Hickman's Custom Homes, offering small, custom-built wooden buildings, ranging in price from $700 to $4,000, which customers would pay for but were never built.

He pleaded guilty in February 2015 in Pulaski County to two counts of theft of property over $5,000 and was sentenced to three years in prison. He was arrested May 6 in Dardanelle on a felony count of theft of services over $5,000 and was set to stand trial Tuesday, but filed a motion to have the case continued.

According to a probable cause affidavit related to Monday's case, on May 11, 2018, a woman filed a report with the Garland County Sheriff's Office stating her home had damage to the roof during a March hail storm.

On March 26, an insurance adjuster and a man identified as Hickman came to her home to assess the roof. Hickman claimed to be a representative of JZ Roofing, a Little Rock company. Hickman reportedly assisted the adjuster with the roof assessment and told the homeowner to call him once she received the insurance check.

On April 3, the woman called Hickman after she received the insurance check for the roof and Hickman visited her the same day to get the check from her. The woman signed the $9,885 check over to Hickman "as she was advised to do so by the insurance representative." She said as of May 30 Hickman hadn't done any work on her roof.

A warrant was issued for Hickman's arrest, and he was taken into custody June 12, 2018. He pleaded not to the theft charge and was released Sept. 27 on $1,000 bond.

NW News on 12/01/2019

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