A local woman said she lost $50,000 to a home renovation contractor after she had already lost so much. That man has pleaded not guilty to grand theft charges.

Cleveland

A Cleveland woman, Lillie Mae Blankenship, claims she lost $50,000 to a contractor she had known for over 20 years, following a fire that destroyed her home. After receiving insurance money for repairs, Blankenship hired Kenneth Stewart, who requested two checks totaling $100,000. She alleges Stewart returned only half of the money and failed to complete any work, prompting her to involve the Ohio Attorney General and local police.

Authorities report that Stewart did not respond to requests for documentation or interviews. He has now been arrested on several grand theft felony charges related to the case. Blankenship says the loss has left her unable to rebuild or buy another home.

Woman says contractor stole $50K, he now faces charges

I pull up, the whole street's blocked off. I'm like... Last August, Lillie Mae Blankenship's home in Elyria... I hit the ground. Severe panic attack. Couldn't breathe. Was gutted by a fire. I lost everything. My mom left me. I lost everything. My kids lost everything. Insurance gave her money to rebuild. Lillie Mae tells us a high school friend, Kenneth Stewart, who goes by his middle name Sean, had his own contracting company called Simply Carpentry. She asked him to help. I trusted him. I knew him for 20 plus years. Like, why wouldn't I trust him? She says Stewart asked her to write two checks, one for $50,000 to his business, and another $50,000 to him personally. He specifically said it was to appropriately allocate the funds. Lillie Mae says after that, there were many delays. He's like, oh, I'm just waiting on permits. Since I get them, we're good to go. She says Stewart kept putting off demolition of the burned out home. She says with no work done, she had enough. I would like my $100,000 back immediately. Period. I don't want you doing my house. I don't trust you anymore. Lillie Mae tells us Stewart eventually paid her back $50,000, but not the other $50,000. She got the Ohio Attorney General's office involved, which insisted that he pay up. But she says she got nothing. She also filed a report with the Elyria Police Department. For us, it started in March of this year. Captain Bill Lance is from the investigative division. He says one thing that stood out to them was that Lillie Mae had just suffered a big loss with her home. It's hard to even fathom or understand how somebody could try to take advantage of somebody that's in that situation. Captain Lance tells us they tried numerous times to get Stewart's side of this case. Never could get him to come in. Never could get him to provide any appropriate documents or anything like that. We too attempted to talk with him through emails, calling him. Hello Mr. Stewart, it's Jonathan Walsh once again from News 5 in Cleveland. But no response. So we went to his home in Chagrin Falls. Hi, is Sean around? Someone answered the door saying he wasn't home, the charges are false, and they would contact their attorney to see if they would do an interview with us. We found Stewart is no stranger to cops. He pleaded guilty to attempted felonious assault on two women in 2016 and sentenced to nine months in prison, but the judge allowed him to serve community control. Now, Stewart has been arrested on several grand theft felony charges for Lillie Mae's case. She says Stewart has ruined her plans for a place to call home again. Because I still haven't gotten my money back, I don't have enough money to rebuild. I don't even have enough money to buy another house because of him. I'm News 5 Investigator Jonathan Walsh.

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Kabul

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Brussels

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Breakdown