Wood Construction owner accused of ripping off dozens negotiating federal criminal plea
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) — The owner of a defunct construction company that the state of Tennessee claims defrauded homeowners of more than $2 million is negotiating a potential plea deal on federal criminal wire fraud charges, which can net up to 20 years in prison.
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Multiple alleged victims of Wood Construction and Remodeling have received letters from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Victim Notification Service informing them about a proposed plea agreement. They’ve been invited to a conference call April 16 so they can learn about the proposal and provide input.
Leighton “Joe” Wood is accused of ripping off dozens of homeowners in multiple states, mostly in 2020 and 2021. He’s alleged to have deceptively advertised the services of Wood Construction and Remodeling LLC, collected deposits and follow-up payments, and not completed (or sometimes even started) work.
News Channel 11 broke the story of allegations against Wood Construction in early October 2021.
The federal criminal code defines wire fraud as intentionally using electronic communication in a “scheme or artifice” to defraud someone of money, with the prosecution having to prove false statements, or at least half-truths, were made with the intention to deceive.
Sentencing guidelines show a wide range for wire fraud convictions, going as low as six months for someone with no criminal record and no aggravating factors. Sentences can ramp up quickly, with loss amount, use of mass marketing and number of victims all aggravating factors that in Wood’s case appear to potentially push a sentencing range to over six years.
Jacci Wallace of Bristol, Tenn. is among the victims who received a letter about Tuesday’s call. In 2021, Wallace and her husband paid more than $80,000 on $150,000 in contracts for a complete home remodel plus an addition and a bathroom remodel in another house. Neither was done and the $130,000 full remodel and addition wasn’t even started.
“I’ve got kind of mixed feelings about it,” Wallace told News Channel 11 several days after receiving the victim notification letter. “If we all get our money back, which is potentially what’s going to happen, then I don’t think it’s a terrible thing, but I certainly don’t think it’s justice.”
Wood’s Tennessee contracting license was suspended in the fall of 2021 and he and his wife, Cameron, moved to the Charlotte metro area not long after. Some victims began filing criminal complaints and communicating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (FBI) nearly two and a half years ago.
“Charges have not yet been filed in this case, but our office has been engaged in plea discussions to bring about a resolution of the longer-term investigation that the FBI and TBI have conducted,” an April 4 letter to multiple victims from Victim Assistance Specialist Paige Chiaro reads.
Negotiations with Wood’s criminal defense lawyer have reached the stage of “a plea agreement that would entail Mr. Wood entering a plea of guilty to the federal crime of wire fraud,” the letter adds.
Wood’s attorney, former federal prosecutor Lynette Byrd, responded Friday with an emailed statement following News Channel 11’s request for comment on his behalf:
“Mr. Wood has been working cooperatively with federal and state authorities from the onset of this situation years ago. We continue to do so and look forward to reaching a resolution. Until such time, unfortunately, we are unable to provide a more detailed comment.”
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Wallace’s parents paid for the work that was supposed to be done on the second house. She said a victim advocate told her mother “there’s a third party who hopefully is stepping up to make his victims whole.
“I don’t think any of us will be okay with a plea deal if we are not going to get our money back.”
Feds ‘wish to have your input’
Chiaro’s letter says victims have the right “to reasonably confer with the attorney for the Government in the case.”
It says during Tuesday’s call “we will explain the proposed plea agreement and attempt to answer questions you may have” and that the Department of Justice “wish(es) to have your input.”
A plea agreement would resolve case 2022R00175, the letter says, preventing the need for a trial.
Wood also faces a civil suit filed by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti in September 2023. It seeks more than $2 million in restitution for 94 victims.
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Two months after Skrmetti’s office filed the suit, the Woods, who now live in Indian Land, S.C. outside Charlotte, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in South Carolina. The bankruptcy trustee successfully argued for that case to convert to Chapter 7, alleging the Woods were trying to abuse the bankruptcy process in order to avoid paying debts.
Numerous individual alleged victims have also sued Wood in various courts in both Tennessee and North Carolina.
Through all the legal action, victims have consistently told News Channel 11 they question whether they’ll ever get any financial restitution — and many have freely said they think Wood deserves some jail time.
Friday, Wallace said she’s not sure what her opinion will be if restitution isn’t part of the plea agreement but jail time is.
“I think I’d have to wait and see what the jail (time) actually was,” she said.
“That’s hard if none of us get our money back. He really hurt people. People lived in torn apart houses and they did so much damage to people’s property. I think if part of the deal isn’t that we all get paid back, I don’t know that I’d be okay with a deal.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mac Heavener is leading the prosecution of Wood’s case.
A Department of Justice spokesperson wrote that “the Eastern District of Tennessee has no comment on pending litigation,” in response to an inquiry Friday morning.
TBI spokeswoman Leslie Earhart confirmed, “We still have an open and active case.”
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