Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Credit: Montgomery County Jail
Greene stood mute at a Tuesday arraignment and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records. His bond was set at $2,500 plus electronic monitoring while awaiting trial, according to court order signed by Judge Mary Wiseman. He was still in jail Wednesday evening, according to online jail records.
A message left with Greene’s appointed attorney, David Morse of Dayton, was not returned Wednesday.
Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said Wednesday his office intends to file a request that Greene’s bond be increased to $50,000 plus electronic monitoring, “because the defendant evaded law enforcement for nearly 33 months.”
Prosecutor’s office spokesman Greg Flannagan said Greene is facing more than 25 felony counts and has warrants from Clark and Shelby counties as well.
“Robert Tracy Greene has had a warrant out for his arrest since September 2019 for defrauding victims, many elderly, by taking money from them to do home repairs, and has been on the run ever since,” Flannagan said. “Most of the victims had property damaged by the Memorial Day tornadoes.”
The Dayton Daily News first revealed the accusations against Greene and another local home improvement contractor in an investigation into complaints from tornado victims that unscrupulous contractors were delaying rebuilding from the 2019 tornadoes.
In 2019, Greene told the Dayton Daily News that he intended to finish the work on the tornado-damaged properties but couldn’t because of open warrants, and that he intended to turn himself in. At that time, he had two warrants out for his arrest. He has been convicted of theft three times for contractor-related accusations: twice in 2012 and once in 2013.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sued Greene in February 2021. At that time his whereabouts were unknown. Montgomery County Judge Mary Huffman rendered a default judgment on the state’s behalf in December 2021 and ordered Greene to pay damages and penalties totaling $114,350.
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