Graham
A former fence company owner accused of taking cash payments from customers for orders while preparing to file bankruptcy was sentenced to work release starting Thursday in an effort to require her to repay the more than $130,000 owed to a combined 17 victims.
Jami R. Graham, 53, of 11221 West Baker Hollow Road, Columbus, former owner of Fence Boss LLC, received an aggregate 15-year-sentence Thursday from Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin, including a five-year sentence to a work release program that requires her to be in the custody of Community Corrections except when she is working.
According to the sentence, if Graham pays $1,000 in restitution for 12 months, two and a half years of that five years would convert to home detention, but if not, it remains work release. Benjamin ordered Graham to pay a minimum of $500 in restitution per month as part of the sentence.
In addition to the five-year work release sentence, Graham received a two and a half year sentence on home detention, and a seven and a half year sentence which was suspended to the Department of Corrections, with Graham serving the seven and a half years on probation supervised by Community Corrections.
Each of the sections of the sentence were designated toward each of the charges representing each of the victims in the case.
The case was concluded as part of a plea bargain agreement that allowed Graham to plead guilty to 17 counts of Level 6 felony theft, according to court records.
Graham was arrested on June 4, 2024 after an investigative audit showed the 17 victims had paid combined more than $130,000 to her business Fence Boss, many paying between $5,000 and up to nearly $19,000 for fencing that was never ordered or installed, according to court documents. The investigation showed much of the money the clients paid, often in cash in order to receive a “family and friends” discount, was used by Graham for personal expenses, including paying her mortgage company to remove her home from foreclosure.
In the probable cause affidavit, Graham was accused of engaging in a scheme with the intent to obtain money from several individuals by knowingly or intentionally making several false or misleading statements. Many were enticed to pay up front with a promise of a substantial discount, court documents state.
After receiving a customer’s money, Graham often came up with a plethora of excuses for not ordering their fencing, the affidavit states. The excuses ranged from family emergencies and supplier issues to COVID-19 backlogs or a blizzard at a factory, according to the affidavit.
Graham also instructed her staff to lie to customers about the status of their orders, court documents state. Employees told him the business owner would lock her door if she saw a customer who had already paid approaching. Often, the customer would end up pounding on the door, court documents state.
Another former staff member told police a lot of money came into Fence Boss that never made it to the company’s account, the affidavit states. Graham would promise customers to install their fencing in 30 days, but then make them wait several months or never deliver their order, according to court documents.
An accountant told investigators that Graham could not order fencing materials because her credit was gone with her suppliers, the affidavit states. The defendant was eventually told by bookkeepers that she needed to shut her business down because checks to vendors and others were bouncing, and there was no money to pay employees or taxes, according to court documents.
Located at 3700 W. County Road 700N, Fence Boss LLC first opened in July 2018. Graham filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in October 2023.
The victims listed in the affidavit include eight homeowners in Columbus, three more in other parts of Bartholomew County, and one in Greensburg.
At Thursday’s sentencing, Graham took the stand first, saying she opened the company in 2018 after working in the fencing industry and business was very good. She recounted how she and her company believed in giving back to the community, donating to charities that worked with foster children and those that helped provide back to school supplies, the Columbus Firemen’s Cheer Fund and Toys for Tots.
She then testified about the effect of the pandemic on the fencing business and the company, talking about delayed acquisition of materials and being unable to keep installers or office managers. She then described to the court a series of medical problems involving herself and her daughter resulting in her inability to work at the company because of her declining health and a serious health scare for her daughter.
When she returned to work, she blamed much of the mismanagement on at least three office managers who ran the company in her absence and said she concluded that the only way out of the mess was to file for bankruptcy in 2023.
However, the prosecution also noted that Graham went on vacation using a cell phone contract refund of about $1,500, staying at a Panama City beach resort and spending another $800 for food, fuel and T-shirts during the vacation. During her testimony, Graham said she “needed” the vacation after everything their family had been through.
While she said she was sorry for what happened, Benjamin and Deputy Prosecutor Mathew Taylor later noted Graham did not apologize to the victims in the courtroom listening to her statement and that she did not show remorse to them about her actions.
The Circuit court gallery was filled with many of the victims, who were given an opportunity to provide a victim impact statement to the court. Several brought written statements and others went to testify saying they had not planned to speak, but after hearing Graham’s statement, they felt compelled to comment. Graham stared impassively at each person as they testified.
Several of the victims noted their own health problems and chided Graham for using health challenges as an excuse for stealing money from her customers.
Laurie Raymond, one of the victims who lost more than $6,500 to Graham, said the defendant took her money just three weeks before filing for bankruptcy and never responded to her questions and pleas to get her money back. “My materials were never ordered,” she said. “People work hard to pay for these fences.”
Several of the victims also noted that after Graham filed for bankruptcy, they were forced to find another company to install their fences, and ended up having to pay twice to have their fence installed.
Kylie Weichman looked directly at Graham from the witness statement and told her that she had stolen $18,774.67 from her, adding that the amount “doesn’t reflect the full cost of your actions.”
“You said you used my money to get your house out of foreclosure,” she said. “I once considered you a friend. I now consider you a habitual liar.”
Weichman said Graham exploited her trust for her own gain. “I accept I will never get the money back. But I can confront you and reclaim my voice as you will leave here a convicted felon stripped of your rights and any respect from the community.”
David Miller was one of the victims who had not planned to testify, but went to the stand saying “I think about what you did every day and what you did to our family. I think it’s about $15,000 that we lost. I hate you. I do. My wife and I work our tails off and you made $15,000 off us in 10 minutes. I need a vacation, we all need a vacation after putting up with this for two years,” he said. “You should not have any freedom until every one of these people are paid back.”
David Ratowitz, the Indianapolis attorney representing Graham, argued that the case involved a business dissolving into bankruptcy, saying it was not a case about a Wall Street financier bilking money from customers.
However, after listening to Graham, and the victim impact statements, Benjamin disagreed.
“I was disappointed in your testimony,” she said to Graham, saying, “it was all about you. You have 17 victims who are sorry for what happened. You told your employees to lie to these people.”
To offer “family and friends” discounts for cash payments was completely deceitful, Benjamin said. “That’s calculated.”
Benjamin also noted that one of the victims testified she paid cash for the discount the same week Graham was planning to file for bankruptcy.
Benjamin said Graham did not come across as honest in her statement and noted she had not apologized to the victims, saying everything seemed to point to that none of the losses were her fault.
“This isn’t about what happened to you, it’s about what happened to them,” Benjamin said to Graham about the victims.
In pronouncing sentence, Benjamin noted that if Graham begins paying restitution as ordered, she will be allowed to go off work release, and on to home detention, giving her an incentive to make the ordered restitution payments.
When Ratowitz asked for a 24-hour delay to allow Graham to put things into order before reporting to work release, Benjamin denied the request, saying Graham had to report work release at the end of the sentencing hearing.
“You have a choice,” she told Graham, “you can start paying them back….they didn’t have a choice in any of this but you do.”
