Staff report

A Jefferson County grand jury Wednesday indicted a Groves man for felony theft in two cases where complainants said they paid him money for cabinetwork he never delivered or completed.

In one case, Robert William Carter, 32, 6409 Howe St., Groves, was accused of accepting $34,020 in advance payment from a Hurricane and Tropical Storm Harvey victim for cabinet work to be done at his Port Neches home. The total price tag on the job was going to be more than $60,000. The work was supposed to be completed by Aug. 10, the complainant said, but Carter, who worked for the business R Customs, would neither complete the work nor return his messages.

In the second case, a Port Arthur man said he paid Carter $6,700 by check for work to be done on his house, also for cabinets destroyed by Harvey. The second victim said he made multiple efforts to reach Carter, and once agree to meet him at his business, but Carter never showed.

In the second case, court records show, the offense occurred in an area declared a disaster area by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.