Concord, NH – Attorney General John M. Formella announces that on March 23, 2022, Kevin Clague, age 40, of Churubusco, Indiana, formerly of New Durham, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty to and was sentenced for three counts of felony theft by unauthorized taking and three counts of felony theft by deception in connection with the theft of almost $74,000 from four home contracting clients.

First, Mr. Clague pleaded guilty to committing felony theft by unauthorized taking between June 27, 2018 and November 30, 2018 in relation to a contract that he entered into with L.M. to build a deck in Alton Bay, New Hampshire. Mr. Clague took a $12,000 deposit that was intended to be used on costs related to the deck but then performed no work on the deck, provided L.M. with no supplies, and repeatedly lied about the status of the project.

Second, Mr. Clague pleaded guilty to committing felony theft by unauthorized taking between July 31, 2019 and March 31, 2020 in relation to a contract that he entered into with K.R. to build a garage at K.R.'s home in Milton, New Hampshire. Mr. Clague took two deposits from K.R., a first deposit for $12,737.50 that was intended to be used for costs related to the garage and a second $6,000 deposit specifically for materials. After taking the two deposits, Mr. Clague performed no work on K.R.'s garage, provided no supplies, and repeatedly lied about the status of the project.

Next, Mr. Clague pleaded guilty to committing felony theft by unauthorized taking between September 9, 2019 and July 6, 2020 in relation to a contract that he entered into with A.B. and J.B. to perform home contracting work on the roof and second floor of their home. Mr. Clague accepted a deposit of $15,600 that was intended to be used on the home contracting project, but performed no work on A.B. and J.B.'s home, provided them with no supplies, and repeatedly lied about the status of the project.

Finally, Mr. Clague pleaded guilty to committing three counts of felony theft by deception between December 14, 2019 and October 28, 2020 in connection with a contract that he entered into with J.M. to perform interior home contracting work on J.M.'s residence. Mr. Clague made false statements that he needed three separate deposits of $5,000, $10,000, and $12,625 to make deposits to subcontractors, pay for a building permit, and purchase supplies. After depositing the three checks, Mr. Clague never applied for or paid for a building permit, never made deposits to subcontractors, and never purchased supplies. Mr. Clague never performed any work on the contract for J.M. and repeatedly lied about the status of the project.

The Belknap County Superior Court sentenced Mr. Clague to serve concurrent sentences of 2 to 10 years in the New Hampshire State Prison, stand committed, on the three theft by deception charges and the theft by unauthorized taking charge related to victim K.R. On the theft by unauthorized taking charges related to victims L.M., A.B., and J.B., the court sentenced Mr. Clague to serve sentences, concurrent to each other and consecutive to the stand committed sentences, of 5 to 10 years in the New Hampshire State Prison, all of which is suspended for 10 years following Mr. Clague's release on the stand committed sentences. As a condition of the suspended sentences, Mr. Clague is to have no contact with victims L.M., K.R., A.B., and J.B. All of the sentences require Mr. Clague to pay restitution to his victims totaling almost $73,000. Mr. Clague had previously paid $1,000 in restitution. All of the sentences also require Mr. Clague to maintain good behavior.

These cases were investigated by Investigator Fred Lulka and prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Kevin Scura, both of the Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau.