HARFORD COUNTY, Md. -- A Maryland paving contractor has been ordered to jail for not doing the work he was hired to do.

Barry Simms Reports

Belcher Stanley Jr. of North East was recently convicted on charges of theft, failure to perform a contract and acting as a contactor without a license. He first popped up on the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations' radar in January 2002.

Ads for his business in the Yellow Pages claimed his company was "paving the way" and said he was fully licensed and insured, even though he never had a license from the Maryland Home Improvement Commission. That didn't stop him from offering contracts and getting homeowners to pay him, commission officials said.

When a Forest Hills couple wanted to get their driveway repaved, they said they believed they did everything right when they hired Stanley. They got someone from the Yellow Pages and even checked with the Better Business Bureau.

"He came to our house. He brought his kids in a little beat up car. He seemed honest," said homeowner Lisa Adkins.

But she said Stanley didn't smooth out the bumps on the driveway and instead took the couple for a ride. He used fliers and ads for his companies, America's Best Paving and Maryland's Best Paving, and had contracts with American flags and symbols printed on them to bring in business from Harford and Cecil counties.

But the DLLR said Stanley never held a MHIC license.

"He showed us a document ... an application for a license. I didn't know what a license looked like," Adkins said.

The Adkinses said they gave Stanley a $3,300 down payment. They said he left and never came back.

"I kept calling and getting a weird answering machine. Little kids answered. One time, a parrot answered the phone and was talking in a parrot's voice. It just started to freak me out," Adkins said.

"Many times a year, I would see his name come across my desk and it would be, 'Oh, no. Not him again,'" said Thomas Marr of the MHIC.

The MHIC has filed charges and won convictions against Stanley since 2002.

"Whatever you needed him to be -- an Evangelical Christian -- that's who he was. A super patriot -- that's who he was. He was a con man in the first order," Marr said.

Recently in Harford County Circuit Court, Stanley accepted an agreement from prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to charges of theft, failure to perform a contract and acting as a contactor without a license.

A judge sentenced him to eight years in prison but suspended six. It is a victory for the state, but Adkins said that after all of the problems, she's afraid to give money to any contractor to do anything.

Stanley must report to jail Oct. 7 and was ordered to pay restitution of more than $16,000 to six victims. Some said they have received a portion of their money.

If you're looking for a contractor and want to know if they're licensed, visit the MHIC Web site.