Charges against a Missouri contractor in one of the many cases in which he is alleged to have taken money from victims and failed to do the agreed work, were dismissed after he paid almost $19,000 in restitution, according to a spokesman with the Missouri Attorney General’s Office.
The case was opened on 50-year-old Brian Eddie Sides in Taney County in 2024 after a victim complained he had paid Sides almost $15,000 two years earlier to install solar panels at his residence.
The homeowner said no work was ever done and no refund ever offered.
According to electronic court records on Missouri CaseNet, Sides faced charges of deceptive business practices and financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person.
The victim in the case was 60-years-old.
The Taney County case was prosecuted by the Missouri Attorney General’s office and the county prosecutor.
The spokesman in the office of Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey said Sides’ charges in the Taney County case went into mediation prior to going to trial and it was agreed Sides would pay approximately $18,000 in restitution plus interest to the victim.
She said the restitution plus interest had been paid in full and a request to dismiss the charges in the Taney County case had been submitted to the court.
JUDGMENT IN BAXTER COUNTY CASE
The same contractor has been in trouble in Baxter County for his involvement in the construction of a luxury RV park.
A judgment of $334,000 has been lodged against Sides in a Baxter County civil case.
The Baxter County case involved a number of allegations that Sides and his wife, Stacy, misappropriated assets belonging to the Whispering Oaks Luxury RV Park development to benefit themselves.
Construction on the park was stopped and the Baxter County couple was authorized by the court to liquidate assets of the former partnership to pay vendors and contractors who went unpaid.
It was recently announced that the property has been sold to a local group.
Stacy Sides is not mentioned in every suit against her husband but was named in the Baxter County civil suit. She is alleged to own an upscale massage and skin care business in Branson.
TEXAS COUNTY CASE
Sides pled guilty in Texas County Circuit Court to charges of taking almost $50,000 from a customer to install an off-grid solar energy system and failing to do any work. He entered his plea in late January.
In the Texas County case, Sides was put on probation for five years and ordered to repay the money he took from the victim. According to the judgment and order for restitution filed in the case, Sides is to repay the money in monthly installments of no less than $500.
The criminal case was opened after a two-count indictment was handed down by a Texas County Grand Jury in late March last year charging Sides with stealing and unlawful business practices.
According to the probable cause statement in the case, a victim contacted the Texas County Sheriff’s Office in late October 2023 and reported prepaying slightly more than $49,000 to have Sides install solar panels at this home.
The victim said the payment was made in May of 2022, that work never started and that Sides had not paid the victim back any of the money.
According to the probable cause statement, Sides was given six months to either start work on the project or return the up-front money. He did neither.
Investigators report contacting Sides and being told that the victim’s money had been used to buy materials. It was noted that no materials had been delivered to the job site.
The victim was shown a photo lineup and picked the one of Sides as the person he had hired to do the solar panel work.
The other cases filed in Missouri basically allege the same situation.
Sides initially popped on the radar when he was accused of taking money from elderly victims of the Joplin tornado to do roof repair but failing to do the work and not repaying the money.
Many of the victims who have brought civil suits and won judgments against Sides and his wife are not optimistic they will ever see any of the money that Sides allegedly took from them returned.
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