BLACKSTONE, Mass. (AP) – The backhoe was the tipoff.

A Rhode Island contractor sought in five Massachusetts towns for allegedly conning homeowners out of thousands of dollars – including one family whose yard became a parking lot for an abandoned backhoe – faces charges in the Bay State this week.

Gary Letts, 46, of East Providence, R.I., was arrested by Blackstone Police on Friday evening on 11 warrants for larceny-related charges, Blackstone Police Detective Wayne Mowry said. Letts was arrested after his release Friday from the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston, R.I., after serving time there for several months on similar charges, Mowry said.

Letts allegedly arranged jobs with homeowners in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to do work on their driveways and build additions, but disappeared after taking their money and doing little or no work, according to Mowry.

Christine Bolduc, of Blackstone, alleges that she lost $38,100 to Letts. She and her husband, Brad Bolduc, saw a newspaper advertisement for Letts, met with him, and signed a $69,000 contract in 2003 for a two-car garage and addition.

The Bolducs paid Letts $38,100 in three payments, giving him the third installment in August, the day he showed up at their home with two workers and a backhoe. The workers dug a hole and disappeared, leaving the backhoe in the back yard. When Bolduc called the phone number on the backhoe, she was told learned Letts had leased it and had never paid, and the company had been looking for it since.

“If he’s not gonna give us our money back, I want him to do a lot of jail time, I want him to never have a license again,” Christine Bolduc said.

Police in Blackstone, Bellingham, Plainville, Attleboro, and North Attleboro all had warrants for his arrest. Rhode Island officials contacted Blackstone Police because the most serious Massachusetts charges against Letts – related to Bolduc’s case – were in Blackstone.

Letts is scheduled to be arraigned in Uxbridge District Court on Monday morning, according to Mowry.

AP-ES-05-02-04 1109EDT