Man finds you can overcharge for work, but you must do it

PHOTOGRAPHER: Edward Munger Jr.

Charging $2,000 to cut down a tree that would normally cost $75 to drop doesn’t constitute a crime, but an Amsterdam man also found that charging a senior citizen for other work around the house that was never performed does.

Joseph L. Becker, 43, of 29 Reid St., was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution to the unidentified woman as part of his sentence for a fourth-degree grand larceny conviction, Montgomery County District Attorney James “Jed” Conboy said today.

Montgomery County Court Judge Felix Catena imposed a five-year term of probation Friday and ordered Becker to repay the woman.

Conboy said representatives of the woman’s bank called state police after noticing Becker cashing checks from the womanfor thousands of dollars. State police went to the woman’s home in the town of Florida and put the case together, Conboy said.