ABC2 confronts alleged paving schemer after he backs out of plea deal

ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Tommy Clack has made headlines up and down the east coast for his role in an alleged paving scheme that spans three states. ABC2 news first told you about him back in June and Joce Sterman has been trying to get answers ever since.

After dodging our questions for months, Tommy Clack has no choice but to face our camera outside an Annapolis courthouse. We asked him, ”Did you take advantage of these people and deliberately target seniors in this?” But we were met with silence from Clack and a call of  “No comment” from his attorney.

We were attempting to gain answers from the Annapolis man charged with acting as a contractor without a license in more than a half dozen cases in Anne Arundel County. His customers claim he showed up out of the blue, claimed he had extra materials and offered to pave their driveways at a discount price. They say Clack then bumped up the price at a later time.

Lothian’s Sandra Parks had that kind of experience. She says, “When he presented the bill, it was astounding.” Parks says she paid Clack $21,500 for a job experts told them would normally cost about $6,000. She says, “He scammed us. It's clear and simple. If you asked me every nanosecond for the next 15 years I could never tell you how we let him get over on us."

And they're not alone. An ABC2 News investigation pieced together a paving scheme tied to Clack that spans three states. As we uncovered, he was banned from business in both North and South Carolina and moved his paving operation here to Maryland last spring. To see our original story, click here.

The Maryland Home Improvement Commission says he's rolled at least 14 victims from the Eastern Shore to Howard and Anne Arundel counties, where Clack was expected to plead guilty Tuesday to a set of consolidated cases. Instead, prosecutors say he backed out of the deal at the last minute, disappointing those who came hoping to end their ordeal. Parks says, "He's a doozy. He's smooth, very smooth."

Clack's cases have now been forwarded on for trial. A date has not been set.