Florida Dept. Of Ag Charges Cantonment Man With Felony Grand Theft

August 18, 2019

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has charged a Cantonment man with grand theft for allegedly taking money to repair a boat but never doing the work.

Jeffrey Dale Phillips, 43, was charged with third degree felony grand theft. He was released from the Escambia County Jail on a $5,000 bond.

According to an arrest report, Phillips received $7,978.84 in payments at Affordable Marine Service to remanufacture a boat engine but the work was never performed. The victim also paid an additional $2,322.16 for storage of their boat, the report states, for a total loss of $10,301. According to the Florida Division of Corporations, Phillips is owner of the company on South “L” Street in Pensacola.

The victim told state investigators that they contracted Affordable Marine in August 2017 and received their vessel back in January 2018. On a test ride, the boat did not perform correctly, and the victims said they tried for months to get Phillips to correct the problem.

The victim has since paid another unrelated company $10,325.38 to fix nonexistent or improper work by Affordable Marine, according to the Department of Agriculture.

Comments

17 Responses to “Florida Dept. Of Ag Charges Cantonment Man With Felony Grand Theft”

  1. Jimmy Freeman on August 19th, 2019 4:47 pm

    If this can be done why can’t a customer you install a new roof on and then they say not gonna pay you why we can’t file a charge have 4 jobs like this around $50,000.00 owe to my company

  2. J W on August 19th, 2019 7:47 am

    Moral to the story…..if it floats or flies, rent it. Never buy a boat unless you feel like Busting Out Another Thousand.

  3. jason ward on August 19th, 2019 7:06 am

    I would love to thank the department of agriculture for getting this thief behind bars. if u don’t think he should be behind bars take your boat their and let him do no work and hold your boat hostage till u give him10,000 dollars.

  4. Tabby on August 19th, 2019 6:05 am

    Maybe it’s sending a message to all these fly by night boat mechanics who have been ripping people off for decades. Using old parts off of spare motors but charging for new. One place on 9 mile Rd comes to mind. Just saying.

  5. free willy on August 19th, 2019 1:10 am

    Must have a judge for a best friend. I mean its his word or the mechanics word and until proven that he got ripped off how can they arrest the man. Its time for a forensic engine investigation.

  6. Skylar on August 19th, 2019 12:36 am

    Just sayin. First of all nitwit civil can be any amount. Its just over 5000 takes it out of small claims. Second of all. It is what it is

  7. Mandy Wrinkle on August 18th, 2019 10:06 pm

    I don’t understand how Mr Phillips can be charged twice for the supposed crime. I know there is plenty of people that will day Affordable Marine and its owner is amazing. I am one. People are ridiculous. Misery likes company. Mr Phillips I am praying for you and your family.

  8. Mike on August 18th, 2019 8:55 pm

    I went to a dentist, they charged me a ton of money, I feel worse than before – I guess they should be charged with felony. And it is not just dentists – a few years ago I went through a barrage of tests with a cardiologist – because a dentist said my blood pressure was too high. Ton of money spent, not counting the insurance that comes out of my pocket anyway – no results, no improvement – felony charges? They got my money and where is the outcome?

  9. J D on August 18th, 2019 5:24 pm

    Question is how does the state prove that no work was done? Just like when you take your car to one shop then to another and get told something totally different. If work was done but went bad then it’s a warranty civil matter. But for these accusations to be proven of no work done it comes down to he said she said unless the state wants to spend a hundred thousand dollars on lawyers and Experts as they call them to prove otherwise. Good luck

  10. Just Saying on August 18th, 2019 5:00 pm

    Dont confuse small claims with a civil case. And I dony think I’d sit there and call people names like a juvenile. If he performed work and it wasn’t up to the expectations of the customer its civil. I don’t care what the amount is. He owns a business I dont have all the facts but from the article this is civil.

  11. Not a good idea on August 18th, 2019 3:28 pm

    Uhh, if he appeals this, he has a decent chance of it not only getting thrown out due to it being a civil matter but also seeking damages. What is going on with these AGs? They should know better. My career involves civil cases on a daily basis. More wasted tax dollars, more AGs trying to look good for election time, more bloat, more nonsense.

  12. Just Saying is an idiot on August 18th, 2019 2:39 pm

    Civil matters are less than $5000 you tool bag. this is felony theft

  13. Lu on August 18th, 2019 2:33 pm

    @Justsaying
    I do believe that Theft is a Criminal Matter last time I heard of. So your WRONG this is not just a simple Civil matter!
    Can’t Stand to be lied too or Stolen from just that simple !

  14. DLo on August 18th, 2019 2:16 pm

    Turns out fraud is a criminal offense, if you set out to take someone’s money and not do the work, you can be held criminally liable.

  15. Henry W Coe on August 18th, 2019 1:56 pm

    re:Just Saying,

    That was my first thought. I was looking at his history on the clerk’s web site. It seems this guy pays his bills. Except for traffic citations, at least in Escambia County, he doesn’t appear to be a crook.
    There was no civil case filed about this or any other civil cases from previous customers against him.
    If his defense pans out, it will be interesting to see if he files a civil case for defamation? or if the customer gets arrested for filing a false report?
    Then again, I can’t imagine the DA’s office taking on this case as criminal without a bunch of evidence. It should be interesting to see the evidence.

  16. Just Saying on August 18th, 2019 8:53 am

    Uhm civil matter. Florida tries to make everything a criminal case

  17. EMD on August 18th, 2019 2:09 am

    More and more disgusting things in the news each day. Like .. what is wrong with people? Oh yeah……….that…………but they don’t want it “crammed down their throat.” Oh yeah…….just let them take advantage of others and keep crowding through the revolving doors of the jails. UGH !

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News