Walled Lake garage contractor sentenced for homeowner scams

A Walled Lake garage contractor was sentenced this week to serve up to 20 years in prison for scamming customers, state officials said.

Artemio Sessions, 56, was charged in April 2021 for scamming homeowners with the promise to eventually build garages for them, according to a press release from the Michigan Department of the Attorney General.

Sessions' scams through his business, Garages R Us, defrauded customers from tens of thousands of dollars in ostensible contract and repair jobs before he was caught, officials said.

The man would receive payment from contracted customers and then make excuses for failing to start or complete the work, according to the release.

Sessions stopped returning customers' messages and calls, authorities reported.

A jury convicted Sessions for false pretenses and conducting a criminal enterprise this year.

On Tuesday Judge Cheryl Matthews, of Oakland County's 6th Circuit Court, sentenced Sessions to serve between 40 and 240 months' incarceration.

“Michigan consumers want the professionals they contract with to be reputable, skilled tradesmen, not rampant scammers,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in the release. “Sessions ripped off unsuspecting customers for tens of thousands of dollars, and today's sentence will put an end to his criminal scheming. When in the market for construction or home repairs, I encourage all Michigan residents to research the contractors they consider."

An attorney listed as representing Sessions did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.