Jacqueline Anke’s biggest regret isn’t the more the $3,300 she lost to a Scottdale contractor.
It’s that she waited to report the swindle to authorities.
“We thought it was just going to be a civil matter, then I read about all of these other folks in 2021 and 2022. It’s my biggest regret now that I’m looking at all these other people. We should have done something,” Anke said during a hearing Monday before Westmoreland County Judge Timothy Krieger.
Police said Jason Pirl bilked Anke and 16 other customers for jobs they paid him for, but he never completed the work. Pirl failed to paint Anke’s house trim or replace downspouts at her Jeannette home in 2017.
“We just gave him more and more time and, because of that, there are now so many victims,” Anke said. “I apologize for that.”
Pirl, 43, pleaded guilty to 20 felony counts in seven separate cases in which he was accused of taking money for home improvement jobs he never completed. In all, Pirl was accused of contracting to do more than $150,000 of work that went unfinished.
“I understand that Mr. Pirl has dug his own hole. There’s no doubt about that,” Krieger said.
Susan Klingensmith of West Newton said she her husband hired Pirl in 2020 to replace her home venting and perform other chores. Pirl offered a range of excuses for work delays, including deaths in the family, a personal health issue, and, at one point, he agreed to return their deposit of more than $20,000.
But no check was ever sent, she said.
“I know we’re not going to get any money back. This man came into our home, sat at our dining room table and was as nice as can be when he knew he wasn’t going to do that work,” Klingensmith said. “If he has to be in jail for 15 years, so be it.”
Pirl previously pleaded guilty to similar crimes in Fayette and Somerset counties. He was sentenced last year to serve five to 10 years in prison in the Fayette County cases and received a concurrent sentence in Somerset County, where he now is jailed.
Assistant District Attorney Steven Reddy said prosecutors want Pirl to serve an additional five to 10 years in prison for the new Westmoreland County convictions. Pirl is expected to ask Krieger to impose a prison sentence that includes no additional time behind bars, according to public defender Michael Garofalo.
Krieger will conduct a sentencing hearing for Pirl later this year.
Rich Cholodofsky is a TribLive reporter covering Westmoreland County government, politics and courts. He can be reached at [email protected].
