Birmingham homebuilder who scammed people out of $1.2 million for work never done gets 58 months in prison

A Birmingham homebuilder who defrauded more than a dozen people out of more than $1.2 million combined has been sentenced to prison.

US. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon sentenced 58-year-old Cecil Wayne Sanford to nearly five years in prison. He was also ordered to pay $1.27 million in restitution, according to a statement released Wednesday by Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples.

Sanford pleaded guilty in April to wire fraud. He was represented by Birmingham attorney Jason Wollitz.

Sanford was a residential builder in Alabama who operated through his business, Stone Pointe Builders, LLC.

Between 2020 and early 2022, more than a dozen victims in the Birmingham area contracted with Sanford to build their homes and paid Sanford substantial sums of money – tens of thousands of dollars or more.

The work was never done, despite Sanford’s representations, draws on their construction loans, and invoices for construction-related expenses, authorities said.

Sanford made statements to victims about how their funds would be used and then spent the money in other ways, including to pay his own living expenses.

In February 2022, days after closing with a family on a construction contract and collecting more than $27,000 from the family as a down payment, Sanford moved $10,000 into his personal bank account, withdrew it, abruptly closed the business, and left town.

The FBI investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney J.B. Ward is prosecuting. The Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board assisted in the investigation.