Joe Vaccarelli worked as a newspaper journalist for nearly a decade prior to joining the team at Denver7 in April 2020.
DENVER — The case against a Colorado home remodeling business owner and his father, both facing theft charges, is seeing yet another delay after the owner’s attorney withdrew from the case.Sean Schwalb was in Denver District Court on Friday for an arraignment and was supposed to enter a plea roughly 10 months after he was indicted by a grand jury on dozens of charges of theft, money laundering and violating the state’s organized crime act.
Schwalb’s attorney, Moses Suh, had filed a motion to withdraw, citing a complete breakdown in communications between himself and Schwalb.Schwalb and his father, Avi, along with some employees are facing a total of 51 charges related to a home remodeling company, Schwalb Builders. They are accused of taking money from dozens of customers, demolishing the inside of their homes in some cases, and not completing the work.The indictment said the company took in more than $1 million from customers during a multi-year stretch dating back to 2021. Denver7 Investigates has reported on the business practices of Schwalb Builders for nearly two years.Prosecutors from the Colorado Attorney General’s Office objected to further delays in the case, stating that this was Sean Schwalb’s fifth and, they believed, his final arraignment hearing. Previous hearings had been continued by the court at the request of Sean’s lawyers.“I would just like to make a record that we do believe the purpose of the defendant's request is to delay,” prosecutor Christina Donahue said in court Friday. “I think the motion is quite vague, and it appears that the conflict is instigated by the defendant, as opposed to allegations of counsel being unprepared or unresponsive.”Donahue also questioned the timing of the filing and suggested that Sean should be required to enter a plea of not guilty. Judge Alex Meyers denied that request and set a new hearing for Oct. 24. Sean told the court he was close to hiring new attorneys.Avi Schwalb pleaded not guilty to his criminal charges at an arraignment last month. He’s due back in court on Oct. 20. One of the indicted employees, Alex Padgett — who was facing just six of the 51 charges — took a plea deal earlier this year, receiving probation and paying some restitution to his clients.Both Sean and Avi are still facing multiple lawsuits related to the business. One of those cases is slated to go to trial in mid-November in Jefferson County.
Christina Donahue Colorado Attorney General's Office Colorado Investigative News Colorado Organized Crime Act Denver District Court Denver Investigative News Denver Investigations Denver News Investigations Denver7 Investigates
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