The co-owner of a downtown State College cheesesteak shop pleaded guilty on Monday to charges that his Philadelphia-area electrical contracting company took money from dozens of people in six counties for work it never performed.
Joseph Ford, whose Campus Steaks opened at 119 S. Pugh St. in State College in 2023, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to 74 felony counts of deceptive business practices. Thirty-five of the counts were graded higher as second-degree felonies because the victims were aged 60 or older.
He entered an open plea before Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas Judge Wendy Rothstein, meaning there is no sentencing deal in place. Prosecutors are waiting to see how much restitution Ford pays before determining what sentence they will seek, KYW Radio reported.
Ford, 55, told to StateCollege.com that he is working with the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office “to pay back restitution and make sure all these customers are satisfied.”
According to affidavits of probable cause, Ford’s 1st Call Electric failed to install generators or perform other electrical work for which it accepted payments totaling about $500,000 between December 2020 and October 2022.
Payments from homeowners and a business in Montgomery, Bucks, Berks, Chester, Delaware and Philadelphia counties ranged from $1,419 to $16,450, according to the Montgomery County DA’s Office.
The cases were consolidated in Montgomery County, and a trial had been scheduled for this week before Ford entered a plea. He was initially charged in 2023 with more than 350 counts. The remaining charges will be dismissed.
Ford said in a phone interview on Tuesday that supply-chain issues and subsequent bad advice led to the failure to perform the promised services.
“I was in business for 31 years and we’re rated a five-star electrical contractor for all those years,” Ford said. “COVID beat us up with the generators, with the supply chain and everything like that. We couldn’t keep up on jobs obviously with lack of materials and supplies. I talked to a lawyer and he gave me bad advice. He told me to shut down. We shut down and obviously we didn’t do it the right way. “
Ford said that delays of six weeks to receive supplies turned into 18 months, leaving his company unable to finish work.
“I understand the customers. You know, I’d be upset too,” he said. “We were in touch with the customers, giving them updates, but it was just an unfortunate circumstance where a lot of contractors and businesses shut down because they didn’t have the product to finish jobs.”
He added that he has cooperated with the investigation and intends to pay full restitution.
“We’ve been cooperating from day one for the past two years, and we feel as though this is in the best interest, talking to the DA and my lawyers and everything like that, so just to cooperate, give them what they want, pay back all the restitution, and we’re good to go moving forward.”
Montgomery County Assistant District Attorney Siobhan Harding said her office plans to seek state prison time, the Pottstown Mercury reported.
“This is a case about greed and deception,” Harding said, according to the Mercury. “The defendant took hundreds of thousands of dollars from more than 70 victims and then didn’t deliver on the product and services that he promised them,”
Ford said the case will have no impact on Campus Steaks.
