A jury found York County, South Carolina, home builder, Christian Novellino, guilty of multiple felonies related to failing to build homes and misappropriating funds - specifically, breach of trust and obtaining property under false pretenses.

At least eight victims say they gave Novellino and his businesses (including "Constructing Up") hundreds of thousands of dollars combined to build their dream houses, but he did not. In some cases, he began, but didn't finish.

Officers arrested the contractor a year later, charging him with multiple felonies.

The judge sentenced Novellino to 20 years behind bars, minus the 703 days he's already served.

The prosecution, however, plans to try him on additional crimes, and if convicted, he could face live without parole.

Jason Stoogenke "Builder sentenced to nearly 20 years; prosecution plans to seek another conviction" yahoo.com (Nov. 05, 2025).

Commentary

The law will hold builders who steal accountable, civilly and criminally. In addition, at the very least, builders association ethics, national and local, require builders to be honest, fiscally-responsible, and employ high standards of health, safety, and sanitation when building homes. They are to be fair with those who hire them and those they hire to use as suppliers.

Here is a link to an example of a Graduate Master Builder Code of Ethics, which is part of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)(nahb.org). https://www.nahb.org/-/media/NAHB/education-and-events/docs/credentials/gmb/gmb-code-of-ethics.pdf?rev=371f9afe31b5448bb90e2b0e2e5346e3&hash=B3721D458D71B092FD3DDC21450D27B0