NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (WFTS) — A jury found James Staten guilty on 35 counts in the Olympus Pools trial on Friday after just a few hours of deliberations.
The jury found James Staten guilty on 35 of 36 counts. Now convicted, Staten could face up to 20 years in prison.
The former owner of Olympus Pools defrauded customers by accepting money from them while knowing he would not fulfill their contracts.
"James Staten's insatiable greed forged a path of destruction across Tampa Bay during a global pandemic," said the Assistant State Attorney during closing arguments Friday morning.
Staten stole $1.5 million in customer funds to support a lavish lifestyle, all while clients were left waiting for what they paid for — completed swimming pools.
“He kept selling pools while fully aware that the money wasn’t there,” she stated. “It was flowing through his hands like water.”
Staten’s defense attorney, Dino Michaels, told jurors that the missing pool was the result of poor planning rather than intentional fraud.
"If you have a business plan, that’s just not a scheme to defraud. It’s a business plan. To sell more pools, unfortunately, is a bad business plan. And so this company failed," he said.
In his own testimony Thursday, Staten denied the allegations.
Numerous victims talked to ABC Action News, sharing stories of paying Olympus Pools for contracts that remained unfulfilled. Many reported being left with partially completed projects or no work started at all.
However, Staten's attorney suggested that the rapid growth of Staten's business had overwhelmed him.
"He was unable to manage it. He didn't bring in the people he should have, and it got too big, too fast for him to handle," he said.
Staten's bond was revoked. The judge said sentencing is scheduled for May 7 at 3 p.m.
Pasco County woman trying to rebuild mobile home after hurricanes
"I cried, of course, because I've worked very hard getting it nice, which has been difficult for me since I lost my husband and being alone,” Kelly Welty said.
Welty's mobile home lost its roof during Hurricane Milton. She said it was the only one in the Buena Vista community to get totaled by a tornado.
