A Little Rock man and felon with a lengthy criminal history pleaded guilty Monday to a felony theft charge stemming from a scam involving repairs to a local woman's roof last year.
Howard Gene Hickman, 61, pleaded guilty in Garland County Circuit Court to one count of theft of property over $5,000, punishable by up to 10 years in prison, and was sentenced to six years supervised probation, fined $500 and ordered to pay $190 in court costs.
Hickman was previously convicted in Cabot on March 19, 2014, of 36 felony counts of theft and was sentenced to six months in the Department of Community Corrections. According to information from the Lonoke County Sheriff's Department, the thefts involved a business Hickman was running, "Gene Hickman's Custom Homes," offering small, custom-built wooden buildings, ranging in price from $700 to $4,000, customers would pay for that were never built.
He pleaded guilty on Feb. 4, 2015, in Pulaski County to two counts of theft of property over $5,000 and was sentenced to three years in prison. He was arrested May 6, 2019, in Dardanelle on a felony count of theft of services over $5,000 and was set to stand trial Tuesday, but had filed a motion to have the case continued.
According to the probable cause affidavit on Monday's case, on May 11, 2018, a woman filed a report with the Garland County Sheriff's Department stating her home on Pleasant Run Road suffered damage to the roof during a March 10 hail storm.
On March 26, an insurance adjuster and a man identified as Hickman came to her residence to assess the damaged roof. Hickman claimed to be a representative of JZ Roofing, a company out of Little Rock. Hickman reportedly assisted the adjuster with the roof assessment and then told the homeowner to call him once she got the insurance check.
On April 3, the woman called Hickman after she received the insurance check for the roof and Hickman visited her that same day to get the check from her. The woman signed the check in the amount of $9,885.95 over to Hickman "as she was advised to do so by the insurance representative."
On May 30, the woman emailed a photo copy of the check to sheriff's investigators who noted it had Hickman's signature on the back. The woman said Hickman "continues to give excuses as to why he has not shown up to begin the agreed upon work." She noted that as of May 30 Hickman had not done any work on her roof or repaid the money.
A warrant was issued for Hickman's arrest and he was taken into custody on June 12, 2018. He pleaded not guilty to the theft charge on Aug. 10, 2018, and was released on $1,000 bond on Sept. 27. The case had been continued multiple times and was set for trial on Nov. 5 when it was rescheduled until Monday for a disposition hearing.
Local on 11/27/2019