A Montana roofing contractor sentenced for fraud in two counties is now facing accusations of cheating a customer in Billings.

William Lee Dunmire, 51, has been charged in Yellowstone County District Court with theft by deception, a felony, and a misdemeanor charge of deceptive business practices.

Dunmire allegedly bilked a woman in Billings out of thousands of dollars by taking money for roofing work and failing to deliver. He was previously sentenced for similar crimes in Silver Bow and Lewis and Clark counties.

In October 2019, court documents said, investigators with the Billings Police Department responded to a fraud report from a Billings resident. The resident had allegedly entered into an agreement for Dunmire to complete her roof in late August. Dunmire, whose company Peak Roofing was based out of Clancy, told the customer he could measure the roof from his home through GPS, according to charging documents. He allegedly accepted $4,000 as a down payment from the customer via electronic transfer.

Several weeks passed without Dunmire coming to Billings as promised, court documents said. When the customer demanded all of her money back, according to text exchanges between the two, Dunmire allegedly made several excuses as to why the refund was delayed. He first told her he could not give the money back until the cost of his materials were credited by his supplier, charging documents said, then later said the refund had to be approved by a corporate office in Wisconsin.

While speaking with BPD, the customer provided the officer with reporting from the Montana Standard regarding other charges of fraud he’s faced.

In June 2023, Silver Bow County District Court Judge District Judge Kurt Krueger ordered Dunmire to prison time after revoking his suspended sentence, the Montana Standard reported. Dunmire took tens of thousands of dollars from Butte customers under the guise that he would repair roofs, only never to commit to those repairs and mislead those customers about the amount and types of materials he purchased.

He was sentenced to 15 years in Silver Bow County District Court, all of which were initially suspended, for theft by deception and forgery. Judge Krueger revoked that suspended sentence when Dunmire failed to make restitution payments to those he scammed. At the time of his revocation, he still owed nearly $67,000 to his victims.

In Lewis and Clark County, per the Montana Standard, Dunmire also received a suspended sentence for deceptive practices, theft by deception and forgery.

Cases of fraud in Montana rose steadily from 2017 to 2021, according to data from the Montana Board of Crime Control, going from around 2,200 to nearly 2,500.

Yellowstone County prosecutors filed criminal charges against Dunmire in January 2021. He is currently scheduled to appear for trial in September. If convicted of theft by deception, he could be sentenced up to an additional three years in prison.