A Bedminster Township man was recently sentenced to three to seven years in state prison for operating a custom furniture business and ripping off 40 customers of nearly $118,000, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said.
Austin D. Smallacombe, 37, pleaded guilty on April 22, to felony counts of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy to commit theft by unlawful taking, and receiving advance payment for services and failing to perform. Following his guilty plea, Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr., sentenced him to state prison, ordered him to serve 10 years of probation, and pay restitution in the amount of $118,714.69 to the victims.
His wife, Amanda Smallacombe, 36, pleaded guilty earlier this year before Common Pleas Judge Gary B. Gilman to misdemeanor counts of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy to commit theft by unlawful taking, and receiving advance payment for services and failing to perform. She was sentenced by Gilman to 60 days of total confinement, four months on home confinement with electronic monitoring, 40 hours of community service and to repay the restitution with her husband.
The joint investigation by the Bucks County Detectives and the Newtown Township, Bedminster Township and Hilltown Township police departments found that the Smallacombes owned and operated A&A Custom Furniture, from the 300 block of Katie Lane, Perkasie (Bedminster Township), which is also their home address.
The District Attorney’s Office gave the following account of the case.
The investigation began in 2022 when a Hilltown Township resident filed a police report saying he paid the Smallacombes $4,300 for custom dining furniture, which he never received. The Smallacombes gave several excuses for not delivering the furniture and offered a refund, which they also never sent.
Since June 14, 2022, Bedminster Township police, Hilltown Township police, and Newtown Township police spoke to more than 40 additional victims of the Smallacombes and A&A Custom Furniture. The victims said they contacted the Smallacombes through Facebook or other social media networks and ordered custom furniture to be built.
The victims paid large financial deposits for the manufacturing of furniture using online payment methods. In most cases, the victims didn’t receive the furniture they ordered, and, in some cases, they received poor quality furniture with numerous defects. The investigation found that the Smallacombes used the money on personal expenses.
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