A years-long pattern of unfinished swimming pools, abandoned construction sites, and drained bank accounts came to a head this November when Plymouth, Massachusetts, contractor Steven Docchio was sentenced to jail for scamming homeowners out of more than half a million dollars.
Docchio, 59, entered a guilty plea on November 18 in Plymouth Superior Court to four counts of larceny over $1,200. The plea deal reduced the January 2023 indictment, which originally listed 17 charges before prosecutors agreed to drop most of them in exchange for a guilty plea.
Judge William F. Sullivan imposed a two-and-a-half-year sentence, ordering Docchio to serve nine months behind bars. Because he has already spent six months in custody, he is expected to remain jailed for roughly three more. In addition, Sullivan tacked on a decade of probation, barred Docchio from ever working in the home improvement field again, and ordered an initial $45,000 restitution payment, with more to be determined at a later hearing.
Prosecutors had pushed for more prison time, arguing that Docchio’s conduct wasn’t a misunderstanding or a bad business year but deliberate deception. In their sentencing memo, Plymouth assistant district attorney Alex Zane described Docchio’s “prolonged scheme of fraudulent home improvement practices,” adding that “his actions resulted in significant financial losses for homeowners and left properties in dangerous, unfinished conditions.”
The unresolved projects spanned the state and left behind not just financial fallout but physical hazards.
One East Bridgewater homeowner had hoped to build a swimming pool designed for his autistic son. Instead, prosecutors said, Docchio walked away from a half-finished concrete slab.
In West Boylston, he allegedly collected a deposit for a pool and patio, then dug a hole he never returned to fill — creating what prosecutors called a “dangerous hazard.” A Brookline family, seeking a “therapeutic” pool for a disabled daughter, was similarly abandoned with no finished work.
In East Falmouth, Docchio was hired to construct a deck. Prosecutors say he performed only minimal work before leaving behind an unsafe, incomplete structure with a “significant drop off, endangering the family’s safety.”
Prosecutors also alleged that Docchio sought COVID-era relief money using falsified tax documents, and that throughout the investigation he showed a “lack of remorse,” even berating victims and deflecting blame in a televised interview.
Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz said in a statement that “this so-called contractor made promises to homeowners that he never delivered upon.” He added, “Through his schemes and scams Docchio victimized these people and stole from them — first their trust, and then their money. I am hopeful that with this defendant now going to jail and ordered to pay restitution, it will bring some form of closure to his victims.”
A restitution hearing will determine how much Docchio will ultimately owe the families he left with dangerous construction sites where their pools were supposed to be.
