Milwaukee-area home contractor sentenced for theft
Milwaukee-area home contractor sentenced for theft
A Milwaukee-area home contractor with a trail of unhappy customers is going to jail. He's also ordered to pay more than $60,000 in restitution.
MILWAUKEE - A home contractor with a trail of unhappy customers is going to jail. Customers said, during the one year he was in business, he took thousands of dollars for work he never finished or started.
A ‘hazardous’ situation
What they're saying:
Katie Mathis in Milwaukee recalls living with a hazardous, one-story drop in her floor in 2022, just steps off her kitchen. Mathis had three children in her house at the time, including a toddler.
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"[The drop] went all the way down to the basement concrete floor," Mathis told Contact 6. "It was totally scary and hazardous for our kids."
In late 2021, the Mathis family paid contractor Nathan Noble Regina of Nobleman, LLC more than $11,000 to renovate their newly purchased home in a historic Milwaukee mansion. The house was once owned by William S. Harley, co-founder of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company.
"It was a big fixer-upper," said Mathis.
Mathis said, after demolishing a back staircase and kitchen, Regina hit the brakes on the Harley Mansion job. After Regina's demolition crew left, Mathis said little to no work was done.
"We kept giving him opportunities to come back, and he just wasn't showing up," said Mathis. "I really feel that he is not an honest person."
Eventually, the Mathis family hired another contractor to finish the renovation work.
The charges
The backstory:
In May 2024, Regina was charged in Milwaukee County Circuit Court with nine counts of theft by contractor, including six felonies. He also faced dozens of misdemeanors for home contract violations and not providing lien waiver notices.
Nathan Noble Regina
Three of the misdemeanor violations were for the Harley Mansion job.
Sentencing and restitution
Dig deeper:
In late February, Regina pleaded no contest to 13 of the charges, including one felony. He spoke at the court hearing.
Nathan Noble Regina
"I stand before you today fully aware of the mistakes that I've made and the harm that I've caused," said Regina. "I understand the debt that I owe both financially but also morally."
Regina pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor violation for Mathis' project. A no-contest plea means the defendant accepts the conviction but does not admit guilt.
Eleven of Regina's former customers spoke at his sentencing about their hardships.
Circuit Judge Jon Richards sentenced Regina to nine months at the Milwaukee County Community Reintegration Center in Franklin. He sentenced Regina to three years in prison, but the sentence was stayed. That means Regina will only serve prison time if he violates his probation over the next four years.
Richards also ordered that Regina pay more than $60,000 in restitution to nine of his former clients.
One of those former clients is Dennis Spielvogel in Milwaukee. Spielvogel said he got a second mortgage and took on extra jobs to pay Regina for a new attached garage with a second-story addition. Regina must pay Spielvogel nearly $28,000 in restitution.
"They awarded restitution. It's promising. I'm not going to count it until I get it," Spielvogel told Contact 6.
Spielvogel said Regina never started work on his project.
Nathan Noble Regina
"He was really confident in what he could do and sold it really well," said Spielvogel. "Thought he could get away with it by closing his business and filing for bankruptcy."
A failed bankruptcy
Dig deeper:
Contact 6 has been speaking with Regina's unhappy customers since 2022. That's when Regina's Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing revealed more than 20 potential customers owed money. The bankruptcy was dismissed a year later when Regina failed to make payments.
Looking ahead
What's next:
The Mathis family isn't getting any court-ordered restitution. That doesn't mean they're giving up.
In June 2022, Regina was ordered by the Milwaukee County Small Claims Court to pay the family more than $24,000. Mathis said Regina hasn't made any payments, but they're going to keep pursuing the money. Mathis said Regina serving time for his misdeeds feels appropriate.
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"I think it will be good for him to hopefully not do this again to anybody else and learn his lesson," said Mathis.
Regina must report to the Community Reintegration Center by March 5.
The Source: Information in this Contact 6 reprort is from Regina's sentencing hearing, Milwaukee County Circuit Court records, Regina's Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing and interviews with Dennis Spielvogel and Katie Mathis.