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GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — A working single mom whose home reconstruction never got done after a house fire is among dozens of Wood Construction and Remodeling customers who learned Tuesday they could be in line for restitution.
A federal prosecutor outlined a proposed plea deal with Joe Wood, whose company allegedly defrauded dozens of people in at least two states, during a victim conference call. That call included a reference to a relative of Wood who may deposit funds that can be used to provide restitution, potentially exceeding $1 million to alleged victims.
Alleged victims like Sarah Fogle and Kristen Holzer told News Channel 11 they learned prosecutors hope Wood’s pending agreement to the federal government will come through what’s known as information. The legal technique is frequently used as an avenue to a guilty plea, including in white-collar crimes like the wire fraud Wood is considering pleading guilty to.
So far, though Wood was told he was the target of a federal criminal investigation, he hasn’t been charged with any crime.
“It felt nice to actually hear a plan in motion … but it seems as though he continues to avoid accountability,” Fogle told News Channel 11 after the call.
Around June 2021, Fogle paid about $78,000 to Wood — 40% down for a contract based on a $205,000 insurance settlement to rebuild her dream home after a March 2021 fire. Almost three years later, she has nothing to show for it yet.
“The rest of the insurance money, they were just going to pay the mortgage off and a personal loan I had taken out to do the renovations I had just finished (before the fire) to go ahead and pay all that off,” Fogle said about the aftermath.
“So I was left flat. A burnt down house on a piece of property.”
She lives in a small apartment with her bed in the dining room so her children can use the bedrooms.
Holzer’s family spent more than $40,000 for a home addition that didn’t get done. She said Attorney Mac Heavener told callers the government is looking at its most solid shot at restitution: a Wood family member who’s potentially willing to fund full payment of restitution to victims.
“I would like to have my money back, and especially the ones that have suffered nonstop over this last two to three years because that was their last penny or this was their home that they no longer live in,” Holzer said.
“I would love to see them be able to get their money back to finish their dream or finish their home.”
The prosecutor also said the government will advocate that a judge impose some jail time. While the amount of loss Wood customers allegedly incurred and the number of victims could put Wood at a prison sentence ranging from 46 to 57 months, even a simply guilty plea would reduce that to 21 to 27 months. The prospect of restitution and the type of plea being considered would lower the sentencing range even further, to 8 to 14 months.
“I hope he has jail time, and I hope that his jail term is at least longer than the amount of time that we waited for this answer,” Holzer said. She said for much of the past two-and-a-half years, she’s had little hope Wood would get held accountable for his alleged multi-state scheme that included deceptive online reviews, among other things.
Wood and his wife Cameron, who’s alleged to have provided some of those reviews, moved to Indian Land, S.C. outside Charlotte in late 2021 or early 2022. After the Tennessee Attorney General filed a civil suit in August 2023 on behalf of 94 consumers it says are owed more than $2 million, the Woods filed for bankruptcy in October 2023.
“If he’s getting just a couple of months, I don’t think that’s enough,” Holzer said. “He sat in luxury for the last couple years while most of these families have struggled, and the thought that maybe he gets off with just a couple months or a possibility of probation is sad. I’d love to see him sit there for a while.”
Heavener said the government has identified more than 50 victims in its case and that more than $550,000 was taken from customers who had absolutely no work done. The addition of others who had some work done takes the total amount of loss — and potential restitution — to more than $1 million.
Despite the positives of people getting money back, Holzer admitted chafing at the thought of someone swooping in to pay restitution.
“I would rather him suffer more. Someone’s bailing him out to pay his restitution, he’s not doing any of this … I wish that Joe could feel it more, but at the same time it’s nice to know that there’s a possibility that these families are going to get their money back.”
Holzer said alleged victims were told the process could take a number of months to complete and that the deal wouldn’t be finalized unless the restitution money was deposited with the courts.
