BOSTON -- A local home improvement contractor is a con, prosecutors say. They accuse him of taking money and never finishing jobs.

Team 5's Susan Wornick uncovered what Dino Distefano was allegedly doing while awaiting trial.

Deb Goodman said she trusted the renovation of her Brookline condo to contractor Tom Longo.

"He just seemed extremely knowledgeable," she said.

But after taking more than $16,000, Longo never started the project and wouldn't return her money, Goodman said.

"I never saw him again," she said.

So Goodman filed a report with the Brookline police and discovered Longo was actually Distefano, an unlicensed contractor allegedly using a phony name and Social Security number, Wornick said.

"He conned me," Goodman said.

Distefano was in court last week answering Goodman's charges of misrepresentation and deception. The case was continued.

Distefano would not answer Wornick's questions about the case.

"I have no comment," he said.

"This is a frustrating, if not outrageous, example of how the system fails consumers," Wornick said. Distefano is a free man until his next court date, even though the Team 5 investigation showed he has a pattern of complaints going back to 2001.

Distefano was indicted in Middlesex County in June 2005 on charges he fraudulently took tens of thousands of dollars from 11 consumers. But a trial wasn't set until next month. During the year and a half, he started calling himself Tom Longo and found more customers like Goodman and Michael Horner, Wornick said.

"In cash, we gave him approximately $35,000," Horner said.

Horner said he paid Distefano for kitchen renovations, but he left a mess.

"I trusted him like a sucker," Horner said.

"There are a lot of people who claim you took tens of thousands of dollars from them," Wornick said.

"I have no comment," Distefano said.

Goodman and Horner said they are determined to be Distefano's last victims

"The most important thing here is making sure that he can't do this to anyone else," Goodman said.

Consumers should check a contractor's license and record with the state before giving them any money. People should get everything in writing and never pay more than a third of the total cost up front. Consumers should pay the contactor another third of the total cost as the project progresses.

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