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Joseph Fienga, 66, of Middletown, N.Y. (and previously of Monroe, N.Y.) spoke for nearly 45 minutes, claiming that he was kind to his customers and was repaid with a slew of complaints that put him out of business.
Superior Court Judge James J. Guida (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
Both he and his wife (above) also alleged that some of the stiffed customers threatened them.
This angered Superior Court Judge James J. Guida, who, in addition to the prison sentence, ordered Fienga to pay more than $35,000 in restitution.
Fienga “shows absolutely no remorse to the victims or to the court,” said Guida, who ordered him to surrender on May 1 so he could face other pending charges elsewhere.
“He claimed, ‘They put me out of business,’ and poses himself as a victim and blames the victims,” the judge said. “I find that argument totally incredible, untenable and absurd.”
Guida also cited a voice message in which Fienga threatened to “put a bullet in [a victim’s] brain” and another in which he vowed to throw a customer through a plate-glass window.
Fienga was indicted by a Bergen County grand jury in September 2011 and was convicted by Guida following a bench trial that his defense attorney said he’ll likely appeal.
He already had been on several “renegade remodeler” lists on both sides of the Hudson — and, as Guida noted, still has charges pending out of Bergen and Passaic counties.
“Working with Fiegna has been one of the most stressful and unhappy experiences of my life,” said one of the victims, a Ramsey woman.
Another, in Fair Lawn, filed harassment charges against him.
Fienga pleaded guilty to grand larceny in New York in 2011 after running a home improvement scam there, admitting he took more than $1,000 from two women for work he never did.
New York victims have claimed up to $15,000 in losses while, according to one, Fienga “bragged that he bought two new cars, a fancy new computer (which he had trouble navigating), went on vacation, etc.
“In other words, he stole our money — and that of others — for personal use and not to fulfill his contractual obligations for remodeling our houses,” said the woman, who claimed that Fienga also threatened to hurt her 77-year-old husband when he pressed for a refund or completion of the job.
Fienga’s company, Remodeling Resources, went bankrupt, leaving him with numerous creditors — homeowers in New Jersey and New York, subcontractors and architects, among others.
He also faces several outstanding judgments, including more than two dozen in Orange County, N.Y.
STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
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