Prosecutor Calls Pool Contractor a “Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing” as Victims Finally Get Justice

A Utah pool contractor accused of taking families’ money and leaving them with unfinished projects has been sentenced to prison after victims described years of financial damage, stress, and broken trust.

FOX 13 News Utah investigative reporter Nate Carlisle reported that Rob Riley, who operated Triton Pool and Spa, was sentenced after a jury convicted him in one case and he later pleaded guilty to theft or fraud charges in five others.

Carlisle said FOX 13 first introduced viewers to Riley and his company in 2023, when customers accused him of taking large deposits for pool projects that were never finished. By the time his sentencing hearings arrived this spring, victims had a chance to speak directly about what they said those unfinished jobs cost them.

One victim told Riley, “You are not a good person,” while a prosecutor called him “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”

Families Paid For Pools They Never Got

According to Carlisle’s report, prosecutors said Riley took $62,000 from a family in Farr West and did not finish the work. In January, a jury in Ogden convicted him of theft by deception and one count of communications fraud.

Riley later pleaded guilty to theft or fraud charges in five other cases, and he was sentenced during hearings held in April and May.

The heart of the case was not only that families lost money, but that many of them were left with damaged yards, unfinished construction, and the added cost of hiring someone else to fix or complete the work.

For many families, a backyard pool is not a small purchase. It is often planned for years, paid for with savings or loans, and tied to memories parents hope to build with their children and relatives.

That is why these cases can hurt in a way that goes beyond the checkbook. The victims were not just buying concrete, plumbing, and equipment; they were buying summers, birthdays, family gatherings, and a project that was supposed to make home feel better.

A Victim Describes The Damage

At Riley’s April sentencing hearing in Ogden, Tiffany Flygare told the judge what the experience had done to her family.

“What should have been an exciting and meaningful investment for my family turned into a deeply stressful and painful experience,” Flygare said, according to Carlisle’s report.

Flygare’s family hired Riley to tear out and replace their pool in North Ogden, but the job was not completed. Court records said the Flygares paid Riley $39,000.

“The damage extends far beyond dollars,” Flygare told the court. “It has impacted our trust in others and created a lasting stress in our daily lives.”

That statement captured a theme repeated across the case. The financial loss was severe, but victims also described the emotional weight of dealing with contractors, court hearings, delays, and the fear that they might never be made whole.

Carlisle reported that some customers said the work Riley did complete often failed to meet code, and replacement contractors had to demolish parts of it before the projects could move forward.

Prosecutor Asks For Prison

Riley’s attorney, Michael Studebaker, argued that his client should not receive more incarceration beyond credit for the 14 months he had already served in jail.

Studebaker said Riley should be ordered to pay restitution, arguing that putting him in prison would make it impossible for him to pay the victims back.

“It’s impossible to make that restitution amount, or any restitution payments if we put him in prison,” Studebaker said.

But Thomas Pedersen, a deputy Weber County attorney, asked the judge to send Riley to prison.

Pedersen said Riley presented himself as a legitimate businessman who knew what he was doing, then used that image to defraud people out of thousands of dollars.

“Mr. Riley is a wolf in sheep’s clothing,” Pedersen said.

That phrase stood out because it described the kind of fraud the victims said they experienced. They were not dealing with someone who looked like a stranger in a dark alley; they were dealing with a contractor who appeared to be offering a normal service, taking normal payments, and promising normal work.

That is what makes contractor fraud so damaging. It uses trust as the doorway, then leaves families trying to rebuild not only the project but their confidence in the next person they hire.

Riley Apologizes, Then Complains About Jail

When given a chance to speak before sentencing, Riley apologized to the customers involved in the cases.

“I regret and am sorry for my actions against these individuals, these customers of mine,” Riley told the court. “The betrayal of trust and responsibility was huge. It really was huge.”

But Carlisle reported that Riley also complained about his treatment in the Weber County Jail and accused some of his victims of helping orchestrate assaults against him.

“I’ve experienced a sexual assault by a corporal while at the jail,” Riley told the judge.

A spokesman for the Weber County Sheriff’s Office told FOX 13 that Riley’s claims were investigated and found to have “no merit.”

The moment appeared to complicate Riley’s apology, because while he accepted responsibility in one part of his statement, he also shifted attention toward allegations about what he said happened to him in custody.

In a case built around victims feeling misled and drained, that contrast likely made his words harder for some of them to accept.

More Victims Speak In Farmington

At Riley’s May sentencing hearing in Farmington, more victims addressed the court and described the financial and personal cost of working with him.

Chad Stratford said Riley stole more than money from his family.

“Robert not only stole over $175,000 and over a year of my time, he robbed me and my family of two years of memories,” Stratford said.

Another customer, Cheryl Ritchie, told the judge she ultimately paid more than $346,591.63 to finish a pool that had originally been contracted for $205,930.

Ritchie was also the victim who told Riley directly, “You are not a good person.”

Ethan Rampton, a deputy Davis County attorney, said he did not believe the victims expected to ever recover what they had lost.

“I can state with great confidence that there are none of the victims in any of Mr. Riley’s cases that anticipate ever being made whole,” Rampton said.

That is one of the most sobering points in the case. Restitution can be ordered, judgments can be entered, and prison time can be imposed, but none of those things guarantee that families will get back the money, time, or peace they lost.

Sentenced To Prison And Ordered To Pay

Carlisle reported that judges sentenced Riley to prison, with his total exposure adding up to as much as 30 years behind bars.

The Utah Board of Pardons and Parole will decide how much of that time he actually serves.

The financial side of the case is also large. FOX 13 found that Riley has been ordered to pay $1.7 million in restitution or civil judgments across 12 court cases.

In one hearing, a restitution amount of $171,580 was discussed, and Riley visibly reacted as the court reviewed the money involved.

Those numbers show how wide the case became. This was not one angry customer upset about a delayed job; it involved multiple families, multiple cases, and a pattern prosecutors said left people paying twice for work they had already trusted Riley to complete.

At the Farmington hearing, Riley again apologized.

“I’m very actually sorry for anything that I put these individual customers through,” he said.

He also said he accepted responsibility and was sorry the customers were not able to have their pools completed by their expected dates.

A Long Road To Accountability

Carlisle’s report shows a case that took nearly three years for FOX 13 to follow from the first customer complaints to Riley’s prison sentence.

For the victims, the legal outcome may bring some measure of accountability, but the damage is not neatly repaired by a sentence. Some families paid tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars more than expected, while others were left with unfinished or defective work that turned a major home project into a long-running burden.

The case also serves as a reminder of how vulnerable families can be when they hand large sums of money to contractors for work that depends heavily on trust, scheduling, materials, and follow-through.

Riley will now serve prison time, while victims wait to see whether any restitution will ever reach them in a meaningful way. The courts have delivered punishment, but as Rampton told the judge, many of those affected do not expect to be made whole.