Brian Washburn, husband of Amore Pools owner, sentenced to prison for contracting scheme
VERO BEACH — A swimming pool contractor convicted of nine felonies related to operating a multimillion-dollar pool contracting scheme will spend 30 years in prison, court filings show.
Brian Washburn, 35, whose wife Chrystal Washburn, 40, was the owner of Amore Pools while he told customers he was an employee, also was ordered to pay $3,222,181 in restitution to 121 customer victims, according to sentencing records.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement accused the couple of systematically defrauded customers across the Treasure Coast and elsewhere by fraudulently establishing the business, then agreeing to building backyard swimming pools but never completing them.
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Amore' had an office in St. Lucie County, while the couple lives in Indian River County.
During a June trial, a jury convicted Brian Washburn on nine felonies: organized scheme to defraud, two counts of money laundering of more than $100,000, and six counts of fraudulent use of personal identification information.
The jury chose not to convict him for unlicensed contracting during a state of emergency, false information on an application for contractor's license and one of the seven counts of fraudulent use of personal identity information.
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The Office of Statewide Prosecution, which prosecuted Brian Washburn, called to testify 34 victims who said the Washburns systematically defrauded them by taking cash deposits for pool work, but leaving the jobs incomplete.
The victims were from the Treasure Coast and Brevard, Okeechobee and Palm Beach counties.
'Terrible crimes'
In a statement released Monday, Attorney General Ashley Moody on Monday lauded the lengthy sentence imposed Friday by Circuit Judge Dan Vaughn.
“This fraudster will spend decades in prison for stealing millions of dollars from Floridians who made huge down payments to have pools built on their properties,” Moody stated. “He took their money, dug massive holes in their yards, then ran from his contractual obligations to complete the work, but he didn’t get far before the law caught up with him. Now, thanks to my statewide prosecutors, he will spend a long time behind bars thinking about his terrible crimes.”
Brian Washburn was ordered to serve three concurrent 30-year prison terms for one organized scheme to defraud count and two counts of money laundering. His sentence included six five-year prison terms for the other convictions, which Vaughn ruled to run at the same time.
In letters submitted to Vaughn ahead of sentencing, several victim customers detailed what a Palm City couple called their “nightmare” dealings with the Washburns and Amore Pools, including paying tens of thousands of dollars for unfinished work.
A Hobe Sound couple wrote “Brian Washburn blatantly lied to us, misrepresented his capabilities and we feel willfully destroyed our backyard with no intentions of making it right.”
Another man who stated Brian Washburn “spewed lie after lie after lie,” and “forged documents,” called him “a sociopath who carries with him no regard for other human beings.”
Washburn's wife, Crystal Washburn, has pleaded not guilty to the same crimes charged against her husband, court records show. She remains at the Indian River County Jail in lieu of $750,000 bail, which was reduced from just over $1 million after the state dismissed two counts of money laundering.
She was in court Friday seeking an additional bond reduction, but court filings note Vaughn opted to reserve his ruling on the matter. She’s due back in court Oct. 26, and no trial date has been set in her case.
Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers, and is writer and co-host of Uncertain Terms, a true crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Amore Pools contractor Brian Washburn ordered to prison for decades
