GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Former Wood Construction & Remodeling owner Leighton “Joe” Wood — who’s admitted to defrauding homeowners of more than $1.4 million — avoided any prison time at his sentencing hearing on federal wire fraud charges Thursday.

Wood, who U.S. District Judge Clifton Corker could have sentenced to up to 10 months in prison according to the terms of a proposed plea deal that also includes full financial restitution, will instead spend 10 months on electronically monitored home detention.

“There’s not going to be full restitution,” Corker acknowledged.

“What’s the value of anxiety for two years,” he said, referring to the time that victims who were left left high and dry in 2020 and 2021 (News Channel 11 broke the story on the issue) waited for a resolution. “What’s the compensation for sleepless nights for someone you thought was trustworthy but turned out not to be.”

Corker took Wood to task for his actions and said he empathized with victims that the 36-year-old’s company had defrauded. Wood often took 40% deposits and then performed no work, or performed limited and shoddy work that victims had to spend even more money to get repaired later.

But the judge said the up-front provision of $1.4 million — “this money is actually in the coffers of the court and will be restored to the victims” — and the apparent fact that Wood didn’t spend the money on lavish vacations or move it offshore — came into play in his choice of a sentence.

“It’s hard to strike a real balance here,” Corker said after hearing impact statements from several victims, along with Wood’s statement and arguments by his attorney and prosecutor Mac Heavener.

“Mr. Wood, I hope you can appreciate the level of significant emotional trauma these people felt,” Corker said. He said the victims were hard-working people who trusted a contracting company to perform important work at their homes.

“This was a sacred places for making memories in the future,” Corker said, adding that “many dreams were shattered because of what Mr. Wood did.” He cited a letter written by one victim before he died in November for its insights

Wood, 36, left the courtroom a convicted felon whose rights to vote and carry a firearm are forfeited. Prosecutor Mac Heavener and defense attorney Lynette Byrd had struck a deal in mid-2024. It was predicated on the money being deposited, and as Heavener said Thursday, ‘he’s got friends and family that have ponied up the money.”

Wood did apologize in a statement he read at the podium.

“The suffering I’ve put your families through weighs heavily on me, but I hope to use my poor judgment and the devastating consequences of this case as a lesson and move forward in a productive manner,” he said.

Heavener equivocated a bit when it came to his recommendation on jail time. Acknowledging losses that restitution “doesn’t address,” including loss of trust — one victim said she gets upset just seeing a construction vehicle drive by her still-unremodeled house — Heavener said, “those are harms that the guidelines just don’t capture, and that’s why we included the incarceration provision.”

Asked by Corker if he recommended jail time, Heavener eventually said, “I think that 10 months is appropriate in this case … but it’s just the court’s call.”

‘A facade designed to lure veterans into his scheme’

Victims who made direct statements went by their initials. One, whose family needed essential home improvements during COVID-19 to accommodate home schooling and work, said her husband is a 70% disabled veteran and that she, as “a proud member of a family with deep military roots,” was attracted by Wood’s seeming commitment to veterans.

A veteran himself, Wood had received public praise in the media for an effort to provide a bathroom remodel for a disabled veteran.

“Joe Wood and his sales team used this trust and the values of the veteran community as a weapon to exploit families like mine,” the woman said. “His claims of integrity and service were nothing more than a facade designed to lure veterans into his scheme.”

Her family wound up paying not just the up front 40% — itself an amount higher than that allowed by law — but another 40% before they’d begin demolition. The company did that demolition, then never finished, leaving the family in a situation she described as akin to “camping indoors during one of the most challenging periods in recent history.”

Another victim described researching thoroughly to get work done on a house that had been in her family for several generations. Not only did they see no red flags as Wood rose above three other companies, they too gave extra weight to his service.

“We have so many family members who are veterans, and that struck a very strong chord with us,” she said. “Unfortunately, they used that connection as a weapon against us.”

The woman said the family was two years from paying off a house that had been “the center of our lives for generations,” and that even today, “we have not been able to afford the repairs that are still desperately needed.”

Corker took that into full account when he addressed Wood at length, saying something that would normally be a mitigating factor in sentencing, could actually be an aggravating factor in this case.

“We never would think those who are willing to die for their country would be willing to steal from their countrymen, and yet that’s what we have here,” Corker said.

Wood and Byrd, conversely, suggested that it was his very military ethic that kept Wood from waving the white flag when his business was clearly going under. Instead, as court documents show, Wood continued to seek and garner contracts knowing he was using the deposits simply to fund operating expenses — another ethical no-no.

Byrd, who acknowledged victims had “been very patient and it’s been a long time they’ve had unanswered questions,” added that “it was always Mr. Wood’s intention to accept responsibility and to accept consequences.”

She said after paying salespeople 10 to 15% commissions for jobs that they then clearly underbid — quickly putting the business in jeopardy — Wood sought legal advice. That lawyer, she said, told him he could use deposits for ongoing expenses instead of holding them for the actual work as long as that was explicitly mentioned.

“He thinks he’s got a solution, a legal one, and it isn’t,” she said.

While saying that lawyer should have told him those contracts violated Tennessee law, Byrd admitted Wood’s acceptance of what should have been a fishy claim amounted to “deliberate ignorance,” which helped make his actions criminal.

“Even in the context of bad advice, there was a point at which Joe should have realized the boat was taking on too much water,” Byrd said.

She acknowledged victims probably wouldn’t agree, but said Wood’s “vision was to help people,” and that they marketed the company as veteran owned with veteran values “because that’s truly who he is. It’s not a piece of information that was used to trick consumers into trusting him.”

In his statement, Wood said that growing up in a military family and serving himself meant “giving up was never an option.”

“That mindset served me well in many ways, but it also blinded me,” Wood said. “I became consumed with ‘fixing’ everything, relentlessly battling obstacles without taking the time to address issues at their roots.

“Unfortunately, that approach caused my customers to suffer, and for that, no apology will ever feel sufficient. But I want to say it anyway: I am deeply sorry for the pain and hardship I caused.”

‘This is the first time I’ve had trouble with forgiveness’

Sarah Fogle, who also provided a victim impact statement, lost almost $80,000 when Wood Construction and Remodeling failed to rebuild her fire-destroyed home in 2021.

The single mother described leaving a bad relationship in 2014, getting her nursing degree and buying her own home in 2016. She had just gotten it enlarged to five bedrooms and seen her son, daughter-in-law and grandchild move in when the home burned.

She’ll get her $78,900 back, but the mortgage company took the rest. She spoke to News Channel 11 after the hearing.

“I would have loved to have seen him walk out at least in some shackles. That would have felt better, not that that would have helped anything,” she said. “But having the restitution does at least give some sort of Band-Aid over a big gash.”

She said she appreciated Judge Corker’s probing questions and lengthy explanation of his decision-making process.

“I was very surprised when I seen him sit there and really chew on it and really give (Wood) a lot of different perspectives that if he hadn’t thought of, he has now,” Fogle said. “So that felt really good. It felt like we were heard finally.”

Fogle said she’s learned a lot about other victims through a social media group established several years ago and from phone conferences with Heavener and Thursday’s hearing.

“We’ve all got something in common. But all of our stories are so different and so each person is so captivating and heartbreaking at the same time.”

She said Wood’s being a convicted felon and having to surrender some basic American rights is a just punishment she thinks will be difficult even without jail time.

“He done what he done and now it’s time to deal with the repercussions, just like anyone would. But I feel like he’s not getting them as bad as most would.”

She said she’d love a direct apology some day.

“I’ve never had trouble with forgiveness. This is the first time, and I’m working on it. I’m not there yet but I’m working on it.”

Wood has to begin his sentence within 30 days. Victims should have their funds deposited within several weeks.