DENVER - Several construction workers are still waiting to be paid for three weeks of work. Now, 9Wants to Know has learned their former boss cashed the only check he was given for the job.
The 20 roofers, combined, spent hundreds of hours on the job at the Breakers apartment complex, near East Mississippi Avenue and South Dayton Street before some walked off the job because they haven't been paid.
"He promised me $16 an hour, which in roofing is unheard of," Jeff Mueller told 9Wants to Know.
Mueller and 19 others found the jobs on Craigslist and jumped at the chance to join Terry Boyd's crew.
"The true Terry came out - unfortunately," Mueller said.
Work began in late October, but by the week of Thanksgiving, Mueller says he and the others still hadn't gotten a pay check.
"A lot of talk and no money," he said.
They say Boyd promised to pay them weekly.
"Just straight-out blunt lied. Right to our face. Right through his teeth," Mueller said.
Boyd has a criminal record that includes a history of check fraud. 9Wants to Know has learned he has pleaded guilty to felony theft three times.
When 9NEWS talked to Boyd on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Boyd told us he hadn't been paid for the Breakers job either.
Now, 9Wants to Know has learned that just four days earlier, Boyd was paid and cashed a $2,900 check.
We then asked Boyd about that check.
"Well, in terms of conducting business, I was already in a hole," Boyd told us.
The payment was for work his crew did on Building 6.
Jacob Shannon, who hired Boyd as a subcontractor, says it took the crews two weeks to finish that part of the project. Shannon says, according to his contract, that $2,900 was supposed to be split among the 20 roofers.
The contract, which was signed by Boyd, paid the crew less than $3,000 per roof for the Breakers job.
"Did you ever wonder how these guys were going to get paid?" 9Wants to Know Investigative Reporter Will Ripley asked Shannon.
"It was a concern of mine, yes," he said.
Mueller says his wages alone during that two-week period were supposed to be $1,200.
When 9Wants to Know told him about the less-than-$3,000 per roof rate, he was very surprised.
"That's kind of shocking. That doesn't cover a day's worth of pay with that many guys on the roof," Mueller said.
"I'm being made out as the bad guy on this," Boyd said.
Boyd says progress at the beginning was slower than expected, but was picking up.
"We were supposed to do four buildings a week," Boyd said.
Boyd also says he expected to be paid in advance for the work, even though he agreed to the terms and conditions of the contract that he would only be paid when the work was completed.
"I [had] a different understanding," Boyd said.
Shannon says Boyd knew how payment is going to be made.
"I made my contract very clear as to what the terms of payment were," Shannon said.
Shannon says he owes Boyd another $4,800 for work his crew did on three other buildings. That is not nearly enough to cover what Boyd's 20 workers thought they earned.
"It just saddens me," Shannon said. "Breaks my heart."
"How are these employees going to be paid," 9Wants to Know asked Boyd.
"I'll work that out with each and every employee," Boyd said.
Boyd's contract at the Breakers was terminated.
"It's totally unethical. It's just not right," Mueller said. "We're all hurting right now."
Mueller and more than a dozen others are still working at the Breakers under a new subcontractor.
"Got to keep working; got to move forward," Mueller said.
The roofers back on the job say they are now being paid by the day and not the hour. 9Wants to Know is told that is standard procedure.
They get their first paychecks next Friday.
9Wants to Know started investigating this story after getting a news tip. If you have a story you think we should know about, email blowthewhistle@9news.com.
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