Plea offer taken off the table for unlicensed contractor

Stuck in jail through the holidays and now the case of the State against Christopher Pascale gets longer and longer. He’s accused of contracting without a license and performing work without permits. He was expected to be released Tuesday if he took a plea deal.

The Boczer family thought they’d walk out of the Collier County Courthouse with a court order for Pascale to pay them back for the damage he’s accused of doing to their Naples condo. Since his attorney said he can’t afford those payments, the plea offer was taken off the table.

Moving his wheelchair with his feet, Christopher Pascale rolled in front of the judge and the Boczer sisters. He was expected to take a plea deal Tuesday, 60 days in jail with credit for time serviced. He’s been behind bars since early November 2023. Plus, he’d have to pay the Boczer family about $45,000 over the course of two years. Pascale’s attorney told the judge that Pascale didn’t have the $2,045 monthly payment needed to satisfy his probation. So, no more plea offer but not before Amy Boczer gave Pascale a piece of her mind.

“It takes a special kind of human to prey on others and make a career and life choice of it,” Boczer said out loud in the courtroom Tuesday. “Unfortunately, Chris Pascale is just that kind of person that only knows how to take advantage and prey on others.”

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WINK News first told you about the Boczer family’s experience with Divine Design and Floor Covering, one of Pascale’s businesses, years ago. They hired him in 2019 to fix up their condo after Hurricane Irma damaged it. They paid him about $7,500 for what was supposed to be a one-month project but the Boczer family said it’s cost them thousands more to fix the mess he created.

“He has no idea what he’s doing. His job is to pull this scam on people. That’s it. That’s simply it,” Amy told WINK News Consumer Reporter Andryanna Sheppard once the hearing was over.

For years, Amy Boczer and her sister have flown down from Connecticut for court hearings and trial but Pascale never showed. So, Judge Rob Crown issued a bench warrant in September 2023. Pascale was arrested in November 2023 and held without bond. Now, the Boczer’s will have to wait for justice to be served once again.

“It was almost the punch in the gut like ‘no, we’re not doing this again. We’ve already done that however many times and this is what they’re trying yet again?'” Amy questioned with frustration.

The State and Pascale’s attorney need more time to talk about other options.

“The only good thing was that I knew he was behind bars,” Amy noted. “If you want a continuance then you’re going to sit in jail and that keeps you from pulling this scam on someone else.”

Sheppard asked Pascale’s lawyer his thoughts on Tuesday’s court hearing. He said “no comment.”

Now that there’s no longer a plea offer, Pascale will stay in jail through the holidays and at least until the next court date set for January 31, 2024.