An Antelope man was sentenced to time in jail for doing contracting work in the 49 Fire disaster area without a proper license.

Jeffrey Lynn Scott received a 30-day jail sentence and placed on three years formal probation Tuesday after he pleaded no contest in July to a felony charge of contracting without a license in a disaster area.

Scott was arrested during an undercover sting after an Auburn neighborhood destroyed by an August 2009 fire was placed under a state of emergency and declared a disaster area by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In October 2009, Scott was hired under his business, Jeff Scott Landscape Services, to rebuild a fence in the backyard and replace landscaping to a home damaged by the fire. The homeowners, who lived in Colorado and rented the home to tenants, had used Scott as their regular gardener.

After the fire, the homeowners were set to pay Scott about $3,300 for repair work and had given him a $1,725 down payment.

As part of his sentence, Scott was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and pay restitution to the homeowners, which may include finishing the repair he was hired to do or refund the homeowner’s their down payment.

According to previous Journal reports, Scott was already serving part of a three-year probation term at the time of his arrest after pleading no contest to contracting without a license in a 2006 arrest in a Yolo County sting.

Scott was arrested in a second sting prior to his third arrest and was also investigated as part of a consumer complaint.

Scott served 10 days in jail for the Yolo County sting and in 2007 paid $1,500 in administrative fines for a similar crime, Lopes said.

Steve Sands, registrar with the Contractors State License Board, said unlicensed contractors leave homeowners open to risk.

“They usually do not have workers’ compensation for their employees, which could leave homeowners liable if a worker is injured on their property,” Sands said. “Not only is it s huge risk for consumers, but these phony contractors make it almost impossible for legitimate, law-abiding licensed contractors to compete.”

~ Staff report