LACONIA, N.H. (AP) – A jury convicted a Gilford contractor on Thursday of stealing thousands of dollars from customers.

Tracy Atwater was convicted of taking large deposits from five people to perform home improvements, then not completing the work and not returning the money.

Atwater acted as his own lawyer through much of the trial, arguing he had been a bad businessman, not a criminal.

The prosecutor said, however, that Atwater had “looted” his company bank accounts of the customers’ money to take 12 people on a two-week vacation to Hawaii.

Instead of returning their deposits for work not completed, Assistant Attorney General Connie Stratton told the jury Atwater paid $1,500 to hire a 21-passenger Cadillac and a stretch Humvee to take his extended family, plus four of his children’s friends, to and from Logan Airport to start and end the vacation. She said he also used customer money to pay for the vacation.

“(Atwater) should have been saying thank you James McMillan, thank you Steven Owens while he was in that limo because he went on their money,” Stratton told the jury.

Both customers testified they backed out of their contracts when Atwater failed to do the work. Neither got their money back.

Atwater rested his case on Wednesday without calling a single witness or taking the stand in his own defense. In closing remarks to the jury, Atwater conceded he may be a bad businessman and handle money poorly, but argued the customers had signed contracts that specified he had sole discretion concerning whether to issue a refund.

He also told the jury problems that prevented completing projects, even if caused by his own mismanagement, did not prove he took contracts without intending to finish the projects.

The prosecutor had a different take on the contract.

“This is a license to steal if you accept the defendant’s interpretation, a license to steal money,” Stratton said, shaking a copy of the contract above her head.

“He has conned five victims. Don’t let him con you too. Find him guilty,” Stratton told the jury.

Each of the five convictions carry 7- to 15-year prison sentences.

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Information from: Citizen, http://www.fosters.com/citizen

AP-ES-07-20-06 1319EDT