A former North Texas contractor who took more than $300,000 from customers for jobs he barely started is headed to prison for 30 years.
Story Highlights
- Jeremy Jerod Zeno, a former North Texas contractor, pleaded guilty to theft of property valued at more than $300,000 and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
- Customers paid him large sums up front for remodels and builds that stalled or never started; police say he cashed the checks and stopped answering.
- Prosecutors say he kept taking new jobs while under court supervision for a similar Hood County case and while out on bond in this one.
- Officials said the money has not been recovered.
Thirty-Year Sentence Caps Multi-Victim Contractor Theft Case
Zeno was sentenced on Friday, Oct. 9, 2026, in Tarrant County after pleading guilty to taking customers’ money for remodels and new builds he never finished. Theft of $300,000 or more is a first-degree felony in Texas, the state’s top level for theft, and it carries five to 99 years or life in prison.
The case started in 2024, when Terry Stevenson, a customer who paid Zeno $40,000 for a renovation, filed a complaint with the Benbrook Police Department. Stevenson said the work had barely begun when Zeno stopped returning his calls. “He kept saying the materials are coming. The materials never came,” Stevenson said. He traveled from Iowa to testify and wore a shirt in court that read “Zeno Construction Officially Closed.”
Other victims came forward too. Lee Robinson of Arlington lost $35,000 on a project in Alvarado. Selvin Rosa of Universal Foundation Experts, a Dallas foundation company, said his crew poured a foundation for a home in Hood County and was never paid. Rosa said Zeno “deserves the 30 years because it is not his first rodeo.” A customer from the Royse City and Rockwall area paid Zeno $180,000 and lost it. Court records list five victims, according to reports.
Police said Zeno used excuses and different names to keep the scheme going. He collected checks from customers and withdrew the money in cash. Officials said the money has not been recovered.
Why This Case Drew Such A Harsh Penalty Under Texas Law
Prosecutors said Zeno kept running his scheme while on deferred adjudication in Hood County for a similar crime. Deferred adjudication is a kind of probation in Texas: a defendant can avoid a final conviction by following the court’s rules for a set time. Prosecutors said he also kept taking new jobs while out on bond in the Tarrant County case, meaning he had been let out of jail while that case was still open.
Thirty years sits at the high end for a contractor theft case. The sentence sends a plain message: take a family’s money for work on their home and then vanish, and a Texas court can take decades of your life in return.
Guarding Family Finances: How Homeowners Can Spot Red Flags
Home repair scams often start with pressure for a big payment up front and a promise to begin “next week.” The Texas attorney general’s office advises homeowners not to pay the full amount up front for home repair work. Get a written contract that spells out costs, start dates and milestones. Check that the contractor is registered where your city requires it, and keep a record of every payment and message. In Benbrook, where this case began, the city requires permits for new structures, additions and remodels, and contractors generally must register with the city.
Conservatives know the home is the heart of family life. When a bad actor drains a family’s savings with a fake job, it hits faith, family and community. Law and order depends on local prosecutors and judges who stand with victims and enforce the law. This case shows that when the evidence proves a scheme, Texas prosecutors can and will lock up those who prey on homeowners. That protects seniors, working families and every builder who does the job the right way.
Sources:
fox4news.com, finance.yahoo.com, newsbreak.com