Unlicensed contractor at center of Troubleshooter investigations charged

An unlicensed contractor who has been the subject of several Troubleshooter investigations has been charged.

Jorge Garcia, owner of J&J Home improvements, is facing two counts of financial elder abuse.

Investigators issued a warrant and Garcia turned himself in Thursday at the Durham County Detention Center. He is scheduled to appear in court on March 22. Neither Garcia nor his lawyer had any comments when I-Team cameras caught up with them in the jail lobby.

Homeowners across the Triangle say they are out hundreds of thousands of dollars and they say Garcia is to blame.

He has admitted taking on multiple projects, some for as much as $262,000, without a license.

One of those jobs was for John Saitta's 75-year-old mother's home in Durham.

"In the course of three months, my mom wrote about 10 to 12 checks equaling over a quarter million dollars. He took more money from my mom than the home is worth," Saitta said.

Garcia did do work at Saitta's mom's home, but Saitta says a licensed contractor estimated it was only $45,000 worth of work. This job, in addition to one other, led to the elder abuse charges Garcia now faces.

See what we uncovered in our previous investigations below: