A contractor from Lockport, New York, has been sentenced to two years in prison after admitting he took tens of thousands of dollars from homeowners for construction projects that were never started.
Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane announced that 53-year-old Wayne A. Michalak received the sentence after pleading guilty in November 2025 to three counts of third-degree grand larceny, a class D felony under New York law.
According to prosecutors, Michalak operated a business called WNY Backyard Enclosures and collected nearly $40,000 from three homeowners between April and June 2022 for various home improvement projects.
On April 26, 2022, Michalak accepted $28,889.38 from a homeowner in the Town of Marilla to build a detached garage. Less than a month later, on May 16, he took $5,000 from a homeowner in the Village of Blasdell for a planned concrete patio with a pergola. On June 4, he collected another $5,985 from a homeowner in the Town of Tonawanda for a concrete patio installation.
Authorities said Michalak never began any of the promised work after receiving the payments.
During court proceedings, Michalak admitted to taking the money without completing the projects.
In addition to the prison sentence, the court ordered Michalak to repay the victims. Officials said he has so far reimbursed only one of the three homeowners.
