Bond hearing for accused handyman leads to new theft charge

MORGAN CO., Ala. (WAFF) - A Morgan County Judge laid down the proverbial hammer on a notorious handyman.

A surprise came for Johnny Ray Jordan who thought he was in court for a reduction to his bond but was handed a new theft charge instead. Jordan facing multiple home repair fraud and forgery charges involving three separate cases in Morgan County.

Investigators say he has a history of pretending to be a licensed contractor, starting jobs but never finishing them, and ultimately walking away with the homeowner’s money.

Morgan County District Attorney, Scott Anderson says he’s still conning people from inside the jail.

Monday, his latest alleged victim testified in front of Judge Charles Elliot, that Jordan has gotten more than $3,000 out of her through jailhouse phone calls. She said Jordan needed money on his books for an ankle monitor and to pay debts to other inmates inside the jail.

On a phone call played for the entire courtroom, District Attorney Scott Anderson was also brought into the conversation.”Part of his con was she asked him why he had not made bond yet. And he said, Well, I’ve got to meet with the District Attorney, and that is set on a date certain, that date came and passed. She said did you meet with the DA and his response was no, his wife had a baby. My youngest is 21 years old,” said Anderson.

Right now, Jordan has three pending cases in Morgan County for home repair fraud and forging a builder’s license.

But back in 2015, WAFF 48 first came across Jordan doing home remodeling without a license under two different company names.

Fast forward to 2020 where he took on building decks and left Charles Books without one.

Then last year, we met with Kimberly Lang who says she lost more than $43,000 after paying Jordan for an unfinished, poorly constructed deck. The deck was also missing the ramp she needed for her worsening condition of Multiple Sclerosis.

Leaving the courtroom, Jordan called Lang a “crook” and said she fired him two days before he completed the job.

”Mr. Jordan is very good at what he does not Construction wise, but he’s very convincing,” added Anderson.

Jordan will go to trial in October.

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