Former Contractors Come Before Victims: ‘A Lot Of Money Went In My Pocket’

The disgraced former Bristol Township contractor who owned Hammertime Construction and Demolition fessed up to bilking roughly 10 customers over the past several years.

Ryan Thayer, 29, who also previously served on Bristol Township’s Zoning Hearing Board, told Judge Wallace Bateman and the victims of his scheme, which prosecutors said cost more than $1.2 million, that he was sorry for his actions that included providing minimal work but demanding large payments of customers, many whose homes were damaged by fire or natural disaster.

“I’m guilty for my actions,” Ryan Thayer said in court. “I want to make it right.”

In an attempt to “make it right,” his wife presented a $10,000 check to the county for restitution. The problem: the check was made out to the nonexistent “Clergy of Courts” and will have to be reissued to be accepted.

Assistant District Attorney Marc Furber noted Ryan Thayer, who was represented by attorney Blake Jackman, made a similar claim at his sentencing in June but no check appeared. The mistake was blamed by Ryan Thayer on the fact that their former landlord who offered to loan his wife the money at the time backed off of his offer.

Furber, with the victims and their families closely listening, laid out how Ryan Thayer and his father, John, had no problem wooing customers and taking their money without completing work. Furber said that Ryan Thayer also failed to get permits for many of the projects and had no problem paying himself instead of performing the promised work.

“I put myself first and not these other people,” Ryan Thayer admitted, adding “a lot of this money went in my pocket.”

“You knew these people were desperate,” Furber said to Ryan Thayer.

“Yes,” the former contractor replied.

While Ryan Thayer appeared apologetic and ready to try to repair the damage he caused, Furber noted recently recorded prison phone calls paint a different picture.

“I just hope when I get a mortgage (after prison) this restitution s**t won’t get in the way,” Ryan Thayer said in a phone call recorded at the Bucks County Correction Facility.

“Hell ya – It’s a rehab. It’s a college campus without the girls and the beer,” he reportedly told his mom when she talked to him via phone while at the county prison.

The most shocking statement was made just a week before last Thursday’s sentence reconsideration hearing. Furber claimed that Ryan Thayer, who played the biggest role in the scam and pleaded no contest in June, said in a phone call that he hoped most of the prison time would be put on his aging father and a former business associate.

“I knew my phone calls were recorded,” Ryan Thayer told the court.

During the exchange, crying was heard coming from the section of the courtroom where the Thayers’ friends and family sat. Moments later, a parade of friends and family went up to speak on Ryan Thayer’s behalf before Bateman.

Delma Disbrow, who has known Ryan Thayer since a chance encounter at a restaurant 9 years ago, spoke highly of him. “We all don’t live in a perfect world,” she said. She said he mentored her daughter and helped her mother-in-law with repair work.

“I do believe Ryan thought he could work his way out of this,” said Bristol Township business owner Chris Ward. “He was a good hard-working kid.”

Tim Girth, Ryan Thayer’s friend since 2003, told the judge his friend is a “good person” who helped him make needed repairs to his Chester County house at no cost.

Ryan Thayer’s wife, Michelle, tearfully told the court she sold all of their nonessential belongings to help pay a portion his $606,000 restitution that is still owned.

Next up, John Thayer  apologized to a man he bilked. The victim, an elderly man John Thayer had known since the 1960s, looked on as the retired contractor who helped his son run Hammertime Construction and Demolition told the court he “wasn’t personally doing anything wrong.”

“I know you all went through hell,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

John Thayer’s court-appointed attorney, Niels Erikson pointed out that Ryan Thayer was the recipient of most of the money doled out by customers and his client only received a monthly check of business royalties.

Furber told LevittownNow.com that all the checks related to the case appeared to be cashed at check cashing businesses. Michelle Thayer even stated in court that she does not have a bank account.

John Thayer previously showed little remorse for his role in the scheme his son is accused of pulling off. At his sentencing, he pleaded he had little involvement in the business and only wanted to help his son. He further stated his wife started Hammertime Construction in 1993 after he left a job on disability and it closed in 2010. Ryan Thayer then took over the businesses and that is when the trouble began.

“I’m not involved in Hammertime,” he told the court last week. “That’s my wife’s business.”

Furber then confronted him with a document he signed in 1993 that said he was the sole employee of Hammertime.

John Thayer then told the court he wasn’t blaming his wife and confirmed he signed the documents but could not recall the context of it.

John Thayer’s daughter, Tarin, tearfully testified that her family has seen great hardship since her 62-year-old father was imprisoned after his no contest plea. She said the family’s home in Levittown where she resided with her young daughter and mother is facing foreclosure. Tarin Thayer told the judge she has to go to the food pantry to get food for her daughter and mother.

“My biggest fear is that he will die in jail,” Tarin Thayer said of her father, who she did not see for 120 days while he was in state prison.

Bateman said the victims in the case were those scammed and also the Thayers.

Neighbors spoke before the judge about John Thayer, who owes more than $400,000 in restitution, and his character. His neighbors spoke highly of the contractor.

Erikson pointed out that John Thayer had done construction work for several area police officers, all of whom were satisfied with the work.

Bristol Township Councilman Troy Brennan was in attendance on John Thayer’s behalf but declined to speak before the judge.

Furber said the victims of the Thayers’ business face continuing problems. One couple had to move to Delaware because they could not move back to their home and one woman lost her Bristol Township home to foreclosure and now lives in New Jersey.

“I would like to ask that the original sentence would stand,” the assistant district attorney said to the judge.

Bateman  reduced Ryan Thayer’s prison sentence to 5 to 10 years from 6 to 20 years and John Thayer’s sentence from 7 to 20 years to 6 to 12 years. The younger Thayer will be eligible to apply for parole in 50 months and his father can apply in 60 months, according to Furber.

Bateman said John Thayer appeared to still be in a state of denial. The judge also noted the irony the Thayers appeared worried about their families becoming homeless, a situations that some of the victims faced.

After a short stay in county prison, the Thayers are expected to return to state correctional facilities for the next several years.