A contractor from Malta who failed to perform work throughout three counties has received 2 to 4 years in prison.

Dakota Smith appeared in Albany County Court on Thursday for sentencing on a grand larceny charge. Smith took more than $39,000 from an older couple in Rensselaerville to renovate their house and did not start any of the work, according to the Albany County Sheriff’s Office. He stopped communicating with the victims. 

Judge William Little had harsh words for Smith.

“What is evident from your criminal history is that you have the same motive that you seem to steal from those who are vulnerable and those who seem to trust you,” he said. “And while you did take responsibility, the pattern of your behavior gives me every indication that you are not really remorseful of your actions.”

This sentence will run to concurrently the sentence of 3 years in prison he received in Greene County Court last week. In that case, Smith took more than $70,000 for a contracting job in July 2023 and never did the work.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 22 in Saratoga County Court for a crime in that county in which he took $18,000 from a customer but never did the work.

Smith has a lengthy criminal history. He was sentenced in 2018 to 2 to 4 years in prison after he and his mother had admitted to stealing from the New York State Weatherization Directors Association by writing checks to themselves for personal expenses. Smith was required to pay nearly $250,000 in restitution.