A Lakeland man is accused of ripping off dozens of widows and family members who lost a loved one.
To this day, the monuments Champ Barber ordered five years ago for himself and his wife, as well as his deceased aunt and uncle remain incomplete. Lettering on the headstones was just added within the last few months, but his last name on one of them is still missing.
“Each one was about $2,250 a piece, so I’ve got about $4,500 in these,” said Barber.
Barber signed a contract with Robert Lamothe of Lamothe Monuments who was a subcontractor for Davis Monuments and who worked next to them on US-98 South in South Lakeland.
“I went over and spoke with him, and he told me he could do what I wanted done for less than what Davis did,” said Barber.
Barber said Lamothe came up with all kinds of excuses for why the work couldn’t be done and about a year ago, he quit answering his phone calls and texts.
“Many of them didn’t have the money to pay for the tombstone, so they gave partial payments, and then he ripped them off. He never delivered tombstones,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd.
Deputies with the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested Lamothe last week on more than 30 counts of felony grand theft. They said the crimes happened between April 1, 2021 and May 23, 2023.
According to the arrest affidavit, Lamothe victimized 34 people and stole nearly $155,000.
“He wasn’t hard to find. We already had him in jail since May of 2023 for lewd and lascivious conduct with children between 12 and 16 age,” said Judd. “So, he’s a deviant within his own right and ripping off people at the most vulnerable time in their lives.”
Barber didn’t end up filing a police report himself, though, he said he feels fortunate because at least he got his headstones, as other families got nothing.
“This is something associated with your loved ones in a time of grief and it’s something that needs to be taken care of,” said Barber. “I think he should pay with some time and he should pay with some money.”
Sheriff Judd thinks there may be more victims so if you believe you’ve been scammed by the suspect then more charges could be added.