TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Jody Kreb’s pool looks beautiful now, but it was left an empty shell surrounded by dirt for months.
After Olympus Pools walked away from the job she paid for, she had to shell out more than $15,000 to other contractors to finish the job. So, when company owner James Staten was arrested this week and charged with 35 felonies related to unfinished pools, she did a happy dance and popped champagne.
“The human part of you hates to feel bad for someone, but this is a man that robbed us,” Krebs said. “The trauma and the stress of going through it was terrible.”
FDLE investigators allege that instead of finishing pools, Staten used the money on a lavish lifestyle, citing the $2.7 million house he lived in until he and his wife filed for bankruptcy after Olympus shutdown. At a press conference, investigators pointed out expensive travel and $53,000 spent at the Super Bowl.
These allegations came in stark contrast to what his attorney, Rick Escobar told me just the day before.
“You can see that my client has never lived a ritzy lifestyle, has never lived a wealthy lifestyle by any stretch of the imagination,” Escobar said.
Krebs was watching our Better Call Behnken report and reacted to that comment.
“I’m standing in my living room watching that and when he said he wasn’t living a lavish lifestyle and businesses just fail, I busted out laughing, like oh my. He snowed that guy, too,” Krebs said.
As all this plays out in court, Krebs tells me she’s thankful she and others came to me to shine a light on the now-defunct company.
“Nobody covered it like you did. And I really truly believe if you had not done that we would not be here,” she said. “You stuck to it. You didn’t stop, you kept going, and again, I don’t think we’d be here without you. I am so grateful.”
Meanwhile, Staten will be in jail until at least Sept. 26 when is scheduled for arraignment. Escobar says he will ask for the $2.8 million bond to be lowered and will point out that his client is not a flight risk or a threat to the community.
