Man to serve up to 3 years over failing to fix house

CANTON — A Rensselaer Falls man will serve prison time for stealing $37,850 from a nonprofit group.

Andrew L. Arquitt, 41, of 635 Childs Road, was sentenced Thursday in St. Lawrence County Court to 11/2 to 3 years in state prison as a repeat felony offender. He pleaded guilty in late January to felony fourth-degree grand larceny.

He was accused of stealing the money from Dec. 19, 2006, to April 30, 2007, from the Association for Neighborhood Rehabilitation Inc. Mr. Arquitt signed a contract to rehabilitate the home of Morristown resident Diana V. Hutchins. He accepted payments from ANR, but reportedly didn't do any of the work agreed upon.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Arquitt said to Judge Kathleen M. Rogers before sentencing. "I will repay the money as soon as I can."

He was convicted March 8, 2004, in County Court of fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. He admitted to selling cocaine in Ogdensburg in January 2003. For that offense, he received five years' probation and an intermittent jail sentence in St. Lawrence County jail.