BY JOEL E. MAST
Examiner Correspondent
William Phelps’ dreams of owning a custom built power boat never came true even though he paid more than $300,000 to Bellefontaine-based builder Todd Lamb.
“It’s somewhat embarrassing,” the 77-year-old Delaware resident said during testimony Monday, Oct. 27. “I don’t know how I got on the short end.”
Unable to travel to Bellefontaine, Phelps testified from a Delaware State Police barracks via an internet video link.
He told a Logan County Common Pleas Court jury of eight women and four men that he entered into an agreement in 2020 with Lamb’s business Spectre Power Boats for a 32-foot catamaran power boat with twin 450-horsepower outboard motors, but the deal fell through within a year.
“Did you ever receive a finished boat from Todd Lamb?” Logan County Prosecutor Eric Stewart asked.
“I did not,” the former business owner said.
Lamb’s failure to deliver finished boats to Phelps and others wasn’t simply bad business, Stewart said during opening statements, but part of a pattern of behavior dating back to 2017 to defraud customers and financial institutions.
In all, Lamb was responsible for more than $900,000 in theft and fraud over a four-year period, Stewart alleges
Lamb, 51, is charged with engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a first-degree felony; theft from a person in a protected class, a first-degree felony; aggravated theft, a third-degree felony; grand theft, a third-degree felony; three counts grand theft, fourth-degree felonies; and defrauding creditors, a fourth-degree felony.
Defense Attorney Griff Nowicki said the case belongs in a civil court, not in a criminal court.
“Boat building is just like any other business,” he said. “You can’t make everyone happy.”
It was combination of business-related problems such as overhead for space and materials; Lamb’s personal health issues; the Covid crisis; and Lamb being a perfectionist who focused on boat building.
He left the business finances up to his ex-wife, Karen Lamb, and Nowicki said she was the point of contact for the customers.
Nowicki focused his cross examinations on contract details such as no guarantees of delivery dates and interactions with Karen Lamb, who is set to stand trial on similar charges Dec. 8 and 9.
Phelps and the prosecution’s second witness, Mike Evans, both testified they had telephone and written communications with Karen Lamb, but most of the communication was directly with Todd Lamb, particularly when it came to the details for building the boats.
“I remember receiving a lot of information from Todd over the phone that never panned out,” Phelps told the jury.
Evans, a 62-year-old business owner from New Jersey, said his initial conversations in 2017 were with Todd Lamb. He had Todd Lamb’s cell phone number and continued contact with the defendant until the spring of 2019.
While on vacation with his family, Evans received an email asking for payment of mounting equipment for the twin motors and a trailer to haul the 32-foot boat he ordered from Lamb’s business.
He made the payment. He was under the impression that the boat was nearly finished and was excited to see.
Evans made plans to travel to Bellefontaine to see the boat and told Lamb.
“He told me, ‘Don’t show up at my place, you will be trespassing,’” Evans said. “I was taken back and felt I was taken advantage of. He was matter of fact you’re not going to get your boat.”
At this point, Evans had made payments of $143,600 on a $198,000 project. He testified he did not receive any component of the boat.
He conferred with his lawyer who in turn reached out to Lamb’s attorney to set up a promissory agreement to pay back the money with interest.
“I was trying to be good and help him out,” Evans said. “I wanted him to work with his attorney to set up an agreement that worked for his business.”
Lamb paid just $16,200 before stopping payments after April 2020.
Both Evans and Phelps said they chose Lamb because of his reputation as a former boat racer and the reported structural integrity of the boats he built.
The trial is set to run through Friday, Oct. 31.