A local contractor charged with numerous counts of fraud returned to court with new legal representation on Tuesday — and a hope to strike his previous plea of guilt from the court’s record.
On Tuesday morning, contractor Scott Eisemann appeared in an Orillia court, virtually, with new representation.
Speaking on his client's behalf, C. Schirk said Eisemann is “in the process of retaining our office” and is working on “an application to strike the plea.”
Schirk initially requested a window of four weeks for his office to review the “wealth of information” relating to Eisemann’s case, but Justice A.M. Nichols said she was “not willing to adjourn the matter four weeks.”
Eisemann is set to return to court on March 5.
Dating back to 2017, the Brechin-based contractor allegedly collected more than $300,000 in payment from a variety of clients in the Simcoe County and Muskoka area and either failed to complete the projects or never delivered the promised work.
In January, Eisemann originally pled guilty to seven of 13 charges at the Orillia Courthouse. At the sentencing hearing on Feb. 8, he told the court there were “so many issues” with the previous statement of facts and explained “perception issues” with the facts contributed to his previous guilty plea.
On that same day, on Feb. 8, Eisemann’s defence lawyer, Emily Dyer, notified the court she will no longer represent him and asked to be removed from the case “due to a breakdown in the solicitor-client relationship." She told the court it would be “impossible” for her to proceed.
As opposed to moving forward with sentencing, Eisemann expressed interest in having his previous guilty plea struck from the record — which Crown attorney Neil Riley spoke strongly against — and returning to court with new legal representation.
On Tuesday, Riley said he is “motivated to deal with this application,” and encouraged Eisemann’s new representation to reach out to him to initiate discussions — which, he said, they have yet to do.
A number of Eisemann’s alleged victims have attended court proceedings in person, and Riley requested that Eisemann show up in person for future court appearances.
