Last week, Joseph M. Horton disrobed and dove into frigid water in an effort to save an Annapolis man he saw jump from the bustling Severn River Bridge.
But on March 13, another side to the former Pasadena locksmith was shown. Horton, 27, was sentenced to 15 days in jail for fraudulently charging a woman's credit card more than $1,000 after she refused to pay the inflated bill to unlock her car on a snowy February night.
"You know, like so many people before me, you have a lot of good in you ..." said Circuit Judge Paul A. Hackner. "But I also get the picture that you're just a colossal rip-off artist."
In addition to jail time, Horton was ordered to serve three years of supervised probation. As a condition of probation, Horton must provide written estimates for any business transaction he engages in that involves price-setting.
The sentence is a quarter of the time handed down by a District Court judge in Annapolis last fall. In October, District Administrative Judge John P. McKenna found Horton guilty of using the credit card of another, theft over $1,000 and identity fraud. He sentenced Horton to 60 days in jail and three years of supervised probation.
Defense attorney Peter O'Neill appealed the sentence and the case was moved to county Circuit Court.
Yesterday, Horton entered an Alford plea to theft over $1,000 before Hackner and received a new sentence. An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain his innocence while admitting that prosecutors have enough evidence to convict. It carries the same consequences as a guilty plea.
The charges stem from an incident in which Horton quoted a woman $250 to unlock her car after she found herself alone and stranded in a snowstorm at a BP gas station in Pasadena on Feb. 9, 2010.
Prosecutors said Michelle Lynn Rolls locked her keys in her car about 7:30 p.m. She called her husband, but he wasn't available to help.
Rolls went inside the gas station and found a magnetic advertisement for the now-defunct Around The Clock Locksmith, owned by Horton, said Assistant State's Attorney Marot Hoskins.
Horton drove to the gas station and gave a verbal quote of $250 to unlock the car. After opening the vehicle, he took Rolls' credit card to his truck. Moments later, he returned with an invoice for $1,006.
Shocked by the difference in price, Rolls refused to sign the invoice.
That night, she checked her online bank statement and saw that $1,006 was debited from her account. After some digging, Rolls learned that Horton had forged her signature on the invoice and the credit card slip, Hoskins said.
It isn't the only accusation of bait-and-switch practices involving the locksmith company. But it is the first case that has garnered criminal charges and a conviction.
Last spring the state Attorney General's Office held a lengthy hearing at which 33 consumers testified they received inaccurate estimates from Horton and received inflated bills for his services, Hoskins said.
Officials with the office's Consumer Protection Division said Horton violated the Consumer Protection Act through a series of "unfair trade practices" designed to coerce consumers into paying inflated fees.
These practices included refusing to provide estimates or providing low-ball estimates, only to raise them once the work was completed.
In May, the office issued a final order against Horton to pay $132,000 in restitution to consumers and $274,800 in civil monetary penalties.
As of yesterday, Horton has not paid one penny of that, Hoskins said.
"The defendant does stand before you a first-time offender," she said. "However, his scheme has been going on for a very long time and basically he just takes advantage of people."
Rolls told Hackner yesterday that she has become obsessed with getting justice for the theft. She said the incident has affected her financially, mentally and emotionally.
"This incident has changed my life forever," she said. "I will never again trust anyone with providing me a service."
O'Neill described his client as a good guy who is trying to rebuild his life.
He brought the March 8 edition of The Capital, which featured a story about a rescue involving Horton the day before.
Horton was driving on the Severn River Bridge when he saw Steven Vonzel Anderson, 56, abruptly stop his car, get out and jump over the side.
O'Neill said Horton stripped down to his underwear and dove into the water, risking his own life.
Horton got about 40 yards, then turned around and got back to shore, where he found and got into a kayak. He rowed to Anderson and, with assistance from Severn Riverkeeper Fred Kelly, pulled him from the water. Horton performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Anderson, who later died at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Parole.
A 2002 graduate of Chesapeake High School, Horton volunteered as a firefighter in Prince George's County.
O'Neill asked Hackner to strike the conviction and order probation before judgment.
The judge sentenced Horton to five years, suspending all but 15 days.
Copyright 2012 - The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
