(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — A Hamilton County window company owner has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for accepting money and failing to provide refunds for windows that she never delivered, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced today.
Tara Curles, 45, the operator of Window Planet Inc., was sentenced this week in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court after entering a guilty plea in September to attempting to engage in a pattern of corrupt activity.
“Let windows with bars serve as a deterrent to any company that thinks it can get away with ripping off Ohioans,” Yost said.
The case investigation found that Curles stole from 38 customers who had signed contracts with Window Planet. Yost’s office served as the special prosecutor in the case.
In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Wende C. Cross ordered Curles to pay consumers the full restitution of $82,812 and banned her for life from “owning, operating or managing any sales business.”
Before criminal charges were filed, Yost’s office in March filed a civil lawsuit against Curles for violating the Consumer Sales Practices Act. The civil case is still pending.
Curles remains jailed at the Hamilton County Justice Center.
Consumers who suspect an unfair or deceptive sales practice should contact the Ohio Attorney General’s Office at www.OhioProtects.org or 800-282-0515.