Kansas fraudster who took money for concrete work in Topeka will go to prison

Posted by author February 15, 2025 Jobs

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A Kansas man who defrauded multiple Topeka and Shawnee County residents of money for concrete work he never did is headed to prison.

Terry Lee Clay, age 47, of Kansas City, Kansas, was sentenced to about two and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple crimes, Attorney General Kris Kobach’s office announced Friday.

“This case should serve as a warning to would-be fraudsters,” said assistant attorney general Rebecca Silvermintz, who prosecuted the case in Shawnee County District Court. “The Kansas Attorney General’s Office will vigorously prosecute those who prey on Kansas consumers in order to make a quick buck.”

The attorney general’s office said Clay “submitted bids and collected deposits from a number of individuals for concrete work that he never did. He did not provide refunds of the deposit money.”

“Bank records revealed that Clay did not use deposit money from consumers to purchase building materials,” the attorney general’s office said in a news release. “Despite a Consumer Protection Order, which ordered him to stop accepting bids for services in 2021, Clay continued to engage in door-to-door sales.”

Shawnee County District Court records show a default judgment was entered against Clay in 2021.

Clay was initially charged in October 2023 with multiple counts of felony and misdemeanor theft and violating a consumer protection order. He ultimately pleaded guilty in December 2024 to two three felonies: two counts of mistreatment of an elder person and one count of violation of a consumer protection order.

Clay was sentenced Feb. 7 to 29 months in prison on the first charge, 12 months on the second and six months on the third. All sentences will run concurrently, so the total time is 29 months, or about two and a half years.

Court records alleged multiple people in Shawnee County were defrauded between April 2019 and September 2021. Clay was ordered to pay about $154,000 in total restitution, split among eight separate individuals or families.

Clay wrote a letter to the court asking for probation.

“The reason I believe probation would be the best case scenario for my case is the victims are wanting their money as quickly as possible,” Clay wrote. “I agree with that. I accept the plea and admitted to my wrong doing not wanting to waste any more time for anyone.”

He said he continued to work construction jobs, and losing those jobs would mean losing “the ability to make restitution to the victims,” while probation would mean, “I can continue to keep working and can begin making sizable payments.”

The attorney general’s office opposed the request, and Judge Jason Geier denied the request for a departure from a presumptive prison sentence.

Silvermintz described Clay’s letter as “empty promises” and argued that prison and likely garnishment of wages in the future is appropriate. She said Clay undermined his own argument by never making payments toward the restitution in the civil case.

The default judgment in the civil case totals about $774,000, of which about $153,000 was restitution.

“The crux of the Defendant’s argument for a departure to probation in this case is based on being able to keep his job in order to pay back the agreed-upon restitution amount,” Silvermintz wrote. “But the Defendant has shown by his inactions that he has no interest in paying back the restitution because a court has already ordered him to pay restitution to the same victims and he has not paid a dime in almost four years.

“Additionally, throughout the pendency of this case, the Defendant has gone through multiple jobs, which should concern all parties about the likelihood about this specific job being the one to finally stick.”

Silvermintz also argued that Clay has shown, “He cannot follow orders,” because he “continued to engage in door-to-door sales after being ordered not to.”

Jason Alatidd is a Statehouse reporter for The Topeka Capital-Journal. He can be reached by email at jalatidd@gannett.com. Follow him on X @Jason_Alatidd.