TEMPLE, Texas — A Bell County woman is seeking legal action after allegedly losing nearly $180,000 to a contractor she says she hired to do work at her home.
Christina Lobdell from Bell County says she hired contractor and owner of Sir Henry Enterprises, LLC (SHE) Phillip Henry to do work at her home in June 2020.
Some of the work included in the agreement between Lobdell and SHE included building a deck in her backyard, she said.
Fast forward to Oct. 2020 and none of the projects stated in the agreement were completed, she said. Throughout the next four months, Lobdell claims to have given Henry thousands of dollars at a time, but none of the projects were completed.
Now Lobdell has reached out to a civil lawyer to try and get her money back and get justice for those who have also been swindled, she said.
"I just want my money back. I recently had a stroke so I have no way to work and earn the money I've lost back. It's really been a struggle since this all has happened," Lobdell explained.
This is not the first time Henry has been accused of theft as a contractor in Central Texas.
Case documents report Henry was indicted on felony theft charges on Feb. 12, 2015. He was arrested April 20, 2015 and convicted of a third-degree felony of theft over $20,000 on July 3, 2017. Henry was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was placed on a 10-year probated sentence instead of being incarcerated for his theft of over $20,000 from over nine different people for the exact same claims in this case.
Henry is also on probation in Williamson County for similar charges.
He defrauded many people by claiming he would build a deck and pergola then take the victim’s money upfront and never completing any work exactly as he has done to Lobdell, according to case documents.
Bell County prosecutor and attorney Anne Jackson prosecuted Henry for theft involving five different people in 2017. Lobdell's civil lawyer reached out to Jackson to learn how to find Henry. Lobdell's lawyer is attempting to serve Henry with papers regarding this case.
Jackson says she was upset to hear Henry was still allegedly commuting theft in the county and is now working with Lobdell and her lawyer to help come to a resolution.
"The idea that he's continuing to allegedly do these things while he's on prelude felony probation is a concerns to any citizen, but especially a prosecutor," Jackson said.
Her recommendation to others in the community is to thoroughly vet and contractors you may be thinking of using and do your research on their company.
"I think it's really dangerous to rely on just those online agencies because they have a profit motive. If it agent or a business pays a certain amount of money, they'll make a recommendation. Maybe not all agencies are that way but there is nothing like good old fashion researching and doing your homework," Jackson continued.
What's next in this alleged theft case?
According to Jackson, it is now up to the prosecutors and district attorney's in Williamson County and Bell County to decide if their investigation into Henry will determine if a motion to revoke will be filed. It is now up to the Bell County district attorney to decided if the will file a criminal charge against Henry.