As the former contractor and owner of LaCoste Construction began his grand theft and fraud trial Oct. 15, one question was asked of the jury to determine the outcome of the case.
“What kind of thief shows up and does the job they’re hired to do?” Jesse LaCoste’s attorney Todd Early asked the jury.
LaCoste faces a host of felony charges, including racketeering and organized fraud, but prosecutors are currently trying the former contractor on his grand theft and contractor fraud case in which he’s accused of beginning demolition on a property and abandoning the worksite.
During the trial, Max Monastra testified that he contracted with LaCoste in 2021 for a major renovation to add multiple rooms and essentially gut the interior of his Pensacola home.
After completing the demolition and beginning some of the work, Monastra said LaCoste and his company eventually stopped coming to work on his home, leaving it in an unlivable state.
Early argued to the jury that his client “only failed to complete the work when Mr. Monastra breached the contract and told them not to come back.”
However, prosecutor Paul Gillespie called multiple other homeowners from surrounding counties to testify LaCoste did something similar with their homes, attempting to show a pattern of fraud rather than a one-time incident.
Gillespie also pointed to LaCoste’s locally obtained contractor license, telling the jury he appeared to falsely claim construction experience to obtain an Escambia County contractor license.
In records presented as evidence to the jury, LaCoste’s application for an Escambia County contractor license said he worked for local company Landmark Engineering and obtained his necessary experience there. It was seemingly signed off by the company’s owner, Mark Spitznagel.
Spitznagel testified neither he nor his company ever employed LaCoste, and he said he never signed the document LaCoste used to obtain his license.
Similarly, Gillespie called Shawn Boland to the stand, a notary whose stamp appeared on LaCoste’s documents. Boland told a similar story, testifying he never personally notarized the document, despite his seal appearing on the form.
“This is a case about three things: about deception, about false promises and, ultimately, fraud,” Gillespie told the jury.
According to Early, LaCoste is expected to testify on his own behalf Oct. 16. Once the defense rests and the state concludes with any rebuttal, the jury will be allowed to deliberate.
Jesse LaCoste also faces massive racketeering charge under Florida’s RICO Act
LaCoste’s grand theft and contractor fraud case is just one of numerous other cases he faces in relation to his alleged actions of taking thousands of dollars from customers and doing little to no work.
In November 2023, an Escambia County grand jury indicted LaCoste under Florida’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act as well as for organized fraud, both first-degree felonies.
The grand jury found he used LaCoste Construction to conduct a pattern of racketeering activity, involving forgery, perjury, false official statements, theft and insurance fraud.
LaCoste also faces around a half dozen other charges related to contractor fraud in Escambia County, which are being handled separately.
LaCoste’s brother-in-law Matthew Banks owned his own contractor company called Banks Constructions, but he too is accused of stealing millions of dollars and racketeering through the company.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Trial begins for Jesse LaCoste, contractor accused of ‘deception, false promises and fraud’
Reporting by Benjamin Johnson, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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