In July 2001, he was convicted of theft for bilking a woman out of her life's savings. He was originally charged with 15 felony counts of theft in connection with home and lot sales.

Five years before that, he also was tried and acquitted on charges of theft and misappropriation of funds while serving as the president of a construction firm. He said he has tried to move on since then.

Trouble elsewhere

Elsewhere, he was initially charged with 15 counts of felony theft, accused of bilking clients and suppliers out of more than $300,000, according to newspaper accounts at the time. All but one count was dropped in a plea agreement in July 2001 for lack of evidence, and he agreed to repay $63,733 within a year. She had given $160,000 to him for promises that he would build her dream home.

He has made regular monthly payments totaling more than $61,000 in connection with the case, according to court records. He says the money came from his own pay.

"He still hasn't paid everything," she said.

He was tried and acquitted on charges of theft and misappropriation of funds in 1996 elsewhere. He was accused of bilking customers out of more than $40,000 while he was president of his own corp, and using the money to cover bad checks, among other things.

Elsewhere a motel owner said she met him when he stopped to ask about the cabins she and her husband were building. They hired him to build four cabins, but ended up losing $29,466.

"He gave us a really good spiel," she said. "He comes off as a really nice person who knows what he's doing. I feel sorry for anyone who comes in contact with that man."

She said she won a judgment against him in a civil case, but it wasn't repaid.

Who handles money?

The president of Nice Guys Corp., said he didn't know about his theft record or a subsequent plea to felony obstruction of justice.

"This is the first time I've heard of it," he said. "That does not change my opinion of him. I'm sure he's paid his penance."

He, and the President of Nice Guys gave differing accounts on how much he has to do with customers' deposits and other money paid to the firm. He said he has "zero contact with customers' money," but the President said he sometimes picks up deposits from customers.

"I'm not saying that occasionally there is not a check from a customer that he picks up, but all of that is controlled in the normal way of doing business," he said.

Excerpt above From Local newspaper June 3, 2007, and their web site.