Staff photo / Ed Runyan John P. Bartos III, 41, of Boardman, left, is seen during his plea and sentencing hearing Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. He had to stop multiple times to gather himself as he spoke about the mistakes he made in his personal and business lives that led him to plead guilty to 18 felony charges related to 25 Mahoning County customers of his home-remodeling company. At right is his attorney, Frank Cassese.

YOUNGSTOWN — Boardman home-remodeler John P. Bartos III, 41, told Judge Maureen Sweeney of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Thursday he made personal and business mistakes that led to the criminal charges against him and that he is a “humbled man.”

Bartos, owner of Gridiron Windows & Doors LLC, and his attorney, Frank Cassese, said Bartos has paid $103,000 to repay all of the customers he owed money to — 25 victims in Mahoning County — and made changes to his life and business to avoid having such issues again.

Bartos, of Boardman, was charged in Mahoning County with 27 charges involving 25 victims. But he pleaded guilty to 18 charges Wednesday — 11 counts of felony theft, six counts of theft from a person in a protected class and one count of grand theft.

Bartos and the company were accused of accepting payments from customers for work and materials not provided — in one case, $8,000 worth. The charges against the company were dismissed Thursday.

Sweeney sentenced Bartos to four years of probation, 100 hours of community service and no prison time. He already has served 110 days in various county jails in the counties where he was charged, Cassese said.

Meanwhile, Bartos had a hearing later Thursday in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court on a motion to withdraw his guilty pleas to several similar charges in that county. The outcome of that hearing was not available late Thursday.

Pat Fening, county assistant prosecutor, said up until last week, he intended to ask the judge to send Bartos to prison. But after Bartos paid his customers back — he was instead asking for probation.

“I have talked to most of the victims, and there are still a couple who feel incarceration would be appropriate. However, taking into account the amount the defendant has paid prior to today, he was asked for no prison or jail time,” Fening said.

Prior to sentencing, Cassese said Bartos has no prior criminal history. “I think some vices in his life, management of his business, started to snowball and it took on a life of its own,” Cassese said.

“He made some terrible, terrible mistakes. In almost a decade of doing this, I rarely see criminal defendants pay criminal restitution in theft cases. I have never seen a defendant pay back this much money, not just in this court but in every county in which he has been charged.”

Then he read off the dollar amounts: “In Mahoning County he paid back approximately $62,000. In Trumbull County, approximately $19,000. In Summit County $12,000. In Lawrence County, $11,500. In Columbiana County, $5,000.”

That adds up to $109,500, not $103,000, but in some cases, the customers allowed Bartos to carry out the work instead of paying the customer back, Cassese said.

“The total amount of restitution over 15 months is $103,000, so I don’t believe incarcerating him serves any purpose.” Cassese said Bartos has two young children, who are 5 and 8 years old. “He’s paid his debt to society, both literally and figuratively. I know he’s embarrassed, he’s humiliated. He’s sincerely sorry.”

Bartos then apologized to the court, the victims in his case and his family.

“I made poor decisions financially in my personal life and I take full responsibility for everything that has happened,” he said. “When I first started my business, I was an immature person who ran my business improperly, and I stand before you today as a humbled man, and I pray that one day each one of the people that were in this case that were victims will find it in their heart to forgive me.

“I’m blessed to be able to say that 100% of the victims are paid back.”

Fening confirmed that was true.

Bartos said he made changes in his personal and business life and changed his business model to ensure that “this will never happen again.”

Bartos also gave an apology last October before he was sentenced to five years of probation and 120 days in the Trumbull County jail after pleading guilty in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to 10 counts of theft. He failed to perform home services for 10 Trumbull County customers who had paid him in advance.

The state’s case against Bartos was that he was contracted with 10 customers to perform services throughout Trumbull County. After receiving a down payment of between $1,000 and $7,500 from each client, Bartos did not complete the work or did not refund the money, according to the state.

In total, the court said Bartos took $27,460, to be paid back in full as part of sentencing.

During his apology, Bartos admitted to having a severe gambling problem two years ago that “just about ruined my life.” Since then, Bartos told the court he’s been seeking counseling to treat his addiction.

According to the Ohio Secretary of State’s office, Bartos created Gridiron Windows & Doors LLC in May 2017 with the Valley View Boardman address.