12 On Your Side Investigates: Imprisoned pool contractor pleads for shorter sentence

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A woman behind bars after a years-long 12 On Your Side Investigation into bad pool contractors is now asking to have her sentence cut short.

We first exposed Bruce and Heather Alford’s pool construction scam back in 2018.

The victims said the Alfords took their money, promising to build swimming pools, but the work was never finished.

In some cases, it wasn’t even started.

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A number of the families hired the Alfords to build therapy pools for family members with disabilities or those recovering from illnesses and surgeries.

When 12 On Your Side started looking into Georgia-Lina Pools, the Alford’s company, many victims were told their only recourse was to file a lawsuit in civil court.

After our investigation began to expose possible criminal behavior, the mugshots started to pile up.

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In Columbia County, Bruce and Heather Alford faced 27 felony counts each, 54 total, tied to 27 unfinished pools.

On September 22, 2022, they pleaded guilty to their felony charges, but they never actually admitted guilt.

Both Alfords took a so-called Alford plea. The name is a coincidence; an Alford plea is a guilty plea, although the defendant maintains their innocence and admits the prosecution’s evidence would probably result in a guilty verdict.

In that September 2022 hearing, Judge James Blanchard sentenced the husband and wife to 40 years each, with 15 of those years to be served behind bars.

Now, three years later, Heather Alford is asking Judge Barry Fleming for a sentence modification.

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She joined the court via Zoom from Pulaski State Prison.

The 12 On Your Side Investigators were in the courtroom Monday as Alford pleaded with a new judge to let her go home.

Judge Blanchard has since retired, but when he originally handed down their sentence back in 2022, the Alfords said they had $120,000 in an account for restitution.

As of today, not a single victim has seen any of that money.

Chief Assistant District Attorney Natalie Paine told Judge Fleming it was just another “bait-and-switch” for the victims in a case fraught with delays and appeals.

When Judge Fleming asked Heather Alford’s attorney why that money had not gone to the victims as ordered, he told the court the Alfords had borrowed it from friends and family. He explained the Alfords believed they would be sentenced to probation - not prison time. Their plan had been to pay that money back to their friends and family, but once they realized they would be behind bars and not able to work, their friends and family took the money back.

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Monday, Heather Alford explained she is not able to pay any restitution while in prison. She says she wants to be released so she can work to pay the $575,000 owed in total to her victims.

She also tearfully asked to be reunited with her two children, ages 11 and 12.

Heather’s mother read letters written by her children, begging the judge to release their mother.

Both victims who spoke in court told the judge they really feel for the Alford children.

Bill Bonsack, an investigator for the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office, is a father.

“I’ve got 7 kids,” Bonsack said. “I don’t know what it would be like if I couldn’t see my kids all the time.”

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Dorcas Powell is also a mother. She’s also a former educator with more than 35 years of experience. When she retired, she was the principal at Lakeside High School.

“I know what the lack of having parents at home can do,” Powell told the judge."

Both victims also say they still want justice.

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna pay me back and then wait 15 years for you to do that. Because in 15 years, truthfully, I probably won’t be here,” said Bonsack.

Both also promise to keep fighting.

“We know we are doing the right thing, but at the end of the day, a family’s still destroyed, said Powell. ”Of their parents doing-not ours.”

Judge Fleming says he will take everything he heard into consideration and make a decision, but he did not specify when he will make that decision.

We’re told it could be days, weeks, or even months.