Charles D. “Chuck” Ogden, aka the “Granite Gangster,” goes on trial in Volusia County Circuit Court starting July 28 on six felony counts, including organized scheme to defraud.
The state will attempt to prove he contracted with Hurricane Ian victims without a license, bilking them out of thousands of dollars. A four-day trial has been scheduled in Judge Kathryn Weston’s courtroom in Daytona Beach, starting with jury selection.
Chuck Ogden
Assistant State Attorney Kevin Sullivan filed an amended set of charges on July 25, reducing the number of counts to six. Ogden will face:
One count of organized scheme to defraud greater than $50,000. In it, the state alleges that Ogden schemed to defraud four families − all of whose homes had been damaged by Hurricane Ian and needed repair work − between Oct. 16, 2022, and April 14, 2023; this is a first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
Three counts of grand theft over $20,000. Each charge, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years, alleges Ogden took money from three of those hurricane victims: Melanie Cain and Melissa and Patrick Herlehy of Port Orange and Tamara Rohring of Edgewater.
Two counts of contracting without a license during a State of Emergency, a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison. In one count, Ogden is alleged to have violated the law between Oct. 17, 2022, and Nov. 17, 2022. In the other, prosecutors give a time range of between Oct. 21, 2022, and Feb. 1, 2023.
Ogden, 50, served nearly three years in the Florida Department of Corrections between 2002 and 2005 after being convicted of selling cocaine and marijuana as well as possessing MDMA, also known as ecstasy.
In 2013, he established a home-repair business, East Coast Countertops & Cabinets, LLC, state business records show. While that business was dissolved in May 2022, victims say Chuck Ogden continued to hustle for contracts after Hurricane Ian for a company owned by his son Charles Ogden, Jr., and doing business as East Coast Countertops.
In recent years, Ogden has used social-media sites such as TikTok to build an image as a self-made successful businessman, giving himself the “Granite Gangster” moniker.
The News-Journal will follow developments in the trial over the next four days.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida fraud, theft trial starting for ‘Granite Gangster’