Illinois Man Sentenced to Prison for Home-Repair Scam

An Illinois man has been sentenced to five and a half years in state prison after he admitted he defrauded a senior citizen during a home-repair scam.

A judge in western Illinois' Hancock County also ordered 59-year-old Perry Porter to pay $6,700 in restitution to the victim.

Porter, of Wyoming, Ill., was sentenced after pleading guilty to a charge of aggravated home repair fraud.

Hancock County Sheriff Scott Bentzinger says Porter was arrested in October after they fielded a complaint that he was charging the elderly victim about $1,000 an hour. Investigators say the total project should have cost just $500.

Bentzinger says it's the third time Porter has been sentenced to prison for fraud.