The owner of a tree trimming service was sentenced to prison on Monday after his company cut down a tree, which went crashing into a Sagamore Hills home and badly injured an elderly man last year.
Cory Howard, 27, of Springfield, was sentenced to 18 months in prison. He faced a maximum of three years. In court, he was ordered to pay restitution of $6,500 to two separate victims, with one of them being George Homa—the 82-year-old Sagamore Hills resident who was injured from the fallen tree.
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In February when he was indicted, investigators said Howard was a con artist who was never insured or bonded. He was charged with theft from a person in a protected class, forgery, falsification, obstruction of official business and operating without a county vendor's license.
Last November, the family of Homa hired Alternative Property Maintenance for $3,000 to cut down a tree that was damaged by a storm.
Homa's daughter, Lore Creque, said as soon as the crew started chopping, the tree slammed into the back porch, trapping her dad underneath limbs.
Homa, who is at a rehabilitation facility, suffered a broken leg, two broken hips, a broken shoulder and a spinal fracture.
