Man sentenced to prison for scamming Huntington homeowner out of $200K

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced Jan. 18 that defendant Nicholas Spano was sentenced to 2 to 4 years in prison for scamming a woman out of $200,000 of her retirement and savings funds while posing as a home improvement contractor between 2019 and 2020.

“Anyone who would take advantage of a vulnerable victim via a home improvement scam or any other type of scam should be forewarned,” said District Attorney Tierney. “We take all consumer crimes seriously at the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office. “We will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law and send you to upstate prison for scams such as this.”

According to the investigation and his own admission at the guilty plea proceeding, Spano, 59, exploited the victim from September 2019 to December 2020. Spano had been recommended to the victim by another contractor, and in September 2019 he gave an estimate for home improvement work on the victim’s Huntington residence. Upon gaining the victim’s trust, Spano manipulated the victim into giving him money for different reasons. His behavior escalated to the point where he made threats of violence against the victim, her family, and her associates. This conduct continued for more than a year, until the victim’s retirement and savings accounts were depleted.

When officers from the Suffolk County Police Department, Second Precinct, arrested Spano on April 24, 2022, he exclaimed, “She’s doing this because I took her for the money.”  Spano, pleaded guilty in November 2022, to Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree.

Anyone who believes they may be a victim of any home improvement scam in Suffolk County should contact the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office at (631) 853-5602.

Criminal complaints and indictments are merely accusatory instruments. Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.