Commonwealth v. Lepper

The failure to erect metal storage structures for twenty-three customers, after taking a hefty deposit from each customer and promising to commence construction by a specific date, resulted in the defendant’s conviction by a jury on twenty-three indictments of larceny by false pretenses, G. L. c. 266, § 30, and four indictments of operating as a home contractor without a certificate of registration, G. L. c. 142A, § 19. The trial judge adjudicated the defendant a common and notorious thief under G. L. c. 266, § 40, and sentenced him to ten to fifteen years in prison on the underlying larceny…