January 19, 2016
Source/Delaware County District Attorney's Office
Drexel Hill contractor Vincent Cottrell, 39, is charged with felony theft, identity theft and theft by deception, according to the Delaware County district attorney.
A Delaware County contractor is being accused of stealing thousands of dollars from homeowners for a project he never started and illegally taking over a website he was hired to create in order to do so.
Prosecutors announced the charges against 39-year-old Vincent Cottrell of the 1200 block of Foss Avenue in Drexel Hill Tuesday.
The Delaware County District Attorney's Office says Cottrell led a couple, also of Drexel Hill, looking to make improvements to their home on a long road of deception.
It began in July 2014 when James and Patricia Blaney wanted to make a two-story addition to their house so their father could move in with them.
They found the website for J.D. Kelly Corporation, a contractor. The Blaney's emailed the address listed on the site and were contacted by Cottrell via telephone, authorities say.
The Blaneys hired Cottrell for the job and went on to issue six checks to Trend Consulting Group, the company Cottrell listed himself as managing partner and CEO of, totaling $52,706.32 from November 2014 to March 2015, according to an affidavit.
Cottrell told the couple over this period of time that the project was on schedule, until the end of March 2015, right before the project was supposed to begin, authorities say.
He told the Blaneys that there was an issue with Upper Darby Township concerning the fire code, then with the permits, and then with the masonry contractor not being licensed in the township, with Cottrell postponing the project each time, according to prosecutors.
This prompted the Blaney family to contact an Upper Darby official, who said he never remembered speaking with Cottrell, never received plans or applications for permits from him, and noted that masonry contractors get their licenses from the state, not the township, according to the criminal complaint.
The Blaneys confronted Cottrell as to why the township didn't have any documents from him and asked him to produce plans and drawings. Cottrell said he had forwarded the necessary documents to the township but couldn't produce any supporting documents to the Blaneys, according to authorities.
In April 2015, James Blaney ended their contract with Cottrell. The Blaneys also spoke to John Hasson, an architect hired by Cotrell for the project.
Hasson told the family he never spoke to Cotrell about fire code issues and was never paid by him for the building plans he produced.
Shortly thereafter, detectives reached out to John D. Kelly, the owner and president of J.D. Kelly Corporation.
Kelly told authorities he hired Cottrell to create a website for his contracting service, but once the site was constructed, Cottrell did not give Kelly the login information.
It was during this period that Cottrell allegedly listed himself as vice president of sales and business development on Kelly's site without his permission, leading to the Blaneys contacting him for their addition.
A review of the bank account for Cottrell's Trend Consulting Group found that he had spent $3,367.78 since during the time the Blaneys gave him money for the project. None of the money was spent for the addition, authorities say.
Cottrell faces charges of home improvement fraud, theft by unlawful taking or disposition, theft by deception, receiving stolen property and identity theft.
