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Former Deer Park resident being sought by Florida police
Brevard County police said that Andrew Fernald, 50, more recently of Palm Bay, Florida, was out on bail and was appear in Brevard County Court before Circuit Judge John Harris in late December. It was Fernald's third failure to appear, and authorities said they believed he traveled here to New York in an effort to avoid his sentencing. According to the charges for which he pled guilty, Fernald duped homeowners in at least two Florida counties after contracting to install hurricane shutters. Police said that Fernald took as much as 50 percent up front to do the work, but failed start or complete it. In addition, employees he hired to to provide consumers with estimates never received any of their commissions. They were also described by police as Fernald's victims. In a story that appeared in Florida Today, an attorney for Fernald, Michael Lambert, told reporters that his client was the victim of internal company theft and that he had sold his home and was working several jobs in an effort to make good on the contracts. Lambert, who did not appear in court the day Fernald failed to show, has since withdrawn from the case because he was also not getting paid, according to Florida Today. Fernald, who pled guilty to the charges this summer, faces up to 15 years in prison and a $15,000 fine. Authorities entered into the plea deal with Fernald because he did perform some work for some of the clients. That would have made it difficult for authorities to meet the financial threshold for first-degree felony charge of organized fraud, Prosecutor James McMaster told Florida Today. Many of Fernald's victims showed up at the court the day of sentencing and were angry at his failure to appear. McMaster said his failure to show up will only add to his legal problems.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of Andrew Fernald is being asked to contact Det. Mark Genoin at 321-409-3486.
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