When Brian Darnell accepted payments totaling roughly $10,000 to perform work on our house and then refused to begin work, attempting to extort more money from us, we requested to terminate the contracts and have our money returned.
Brian Darnell was adamant that he would not do any work, nor would he return our money, the only option he gave was for us to pay him more money.
When a payment has been made and the other party refuses to deliver what they promised, that is theft.
We contacted the Dardenne Prairie City Hall for advice on how to deal with crooked contractor Darnell. They referred us to the St. Charles County Prosecutors office. Upon hearing the details of the theft they advised us that this was a FELONY matter and that they would dispatch the Police to our residence.
The Police took a statement and upon review submitted an application for an ARREST WARRANT to the St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to have Brian Darnell arrested to face charges of STEALING and FRAUD.
What resulted is a bizarre situation that the news story below addresses, illustrating how a crooked contractor like Brian Darnell can avoid facing felon charges even when committing theft of $10,000.
Crooked Contractors’ secret to avoiding prosecution
To date Brian Darnell has never paid back a cent of the $10,000 that he stole from us. We never received the windows and doors that we had paid for and the judgement the Civil Courts awarded us now totals over $19,000 but Brian Darnell has stated he has no intention of paying the judgement.
In Missouri Stealing $500 to $25,000 is a class C felony. Conviction of a class C felony can result in a term of imprisonment of not less than one year and not more than seven years, plus a fine of no more than $5,000, or an amount that is no more than double the amount of the offender’s gain through commission of the theft — up to $20,000.
Brian Darnell continues to do general contracting business in Missouri under a variety of business names such as Darnell-Group, Darnell Construction, Design-Build St. Louis, and Brian Darnell Design, and perhaps others.