Jurors convict pool builder for unfinished work

The former owner of San Antonio-based Presidential Pools and Spas was found guilty Monday of cashing checks for projects he never bothered to complete.

Karl Keene, 44, faces up to two years in a state jail facility when he is sentenced before state District Judge Ron Rangel next month for misapplication of fiduciary property between $1,500 and $20,000.

Prosecutors asked jurors last week to find that Keene had swindled more than $20,000 from two customers, which would have made him eligible for a sentence of up to 10 years. Jurors deliberated Thursday afternoon and Monday morning before reaching a decision.

Keene came under investigation in 2008, after customers began calling the Better Business Bureau and authorities with complaints that he was nowhere to be seen despite gaping holes in their backyards from unfinished swimming pools.

He was a “simple guy trying to make a living,” defense attorney Charles Bunk told jurors last week, arguing that if Keene truly was a swindler they would have seen charges for Rolexes and trips to Las Vegas in his bank account.

“Is he a terrible bookkeeper? Absolutely. Did he turn out to be a bad businessman? Absolutely,” Bunk said. “But does that make him a criminal? Absolutely not.”

But Keene had his own driver and barely more than $50 in his business' bank account when he demanded large down payments from two customers, prosecutors Stephen Ahl and Patrick Ballantyne responded.

“If you take the money from your business account and you put it in your own personal account, that amounts to substantial risk,” Ahl said, describing Keene as someone willing to siphon project funds to support a lifestyle beyond his means.

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