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HOUSTON - A Harris County couple is accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from clients who paid for renovation work that was never completed and spending some of the money at the casino.
Records show Aleck Stephen Miller, 55, and his wife Andrea Pierce Miller, 52, were both charged last week with theft-aggregate that allegedly occurred between November 2022 and May 2023.
According to court documents, four customers told deputies that they met with Aleck, who owns a construction company along with his wife, Andrea, about renovation work they wanted completed on their homes.
In total, the four customers reported paying approximately $87,125 for their renovation projects, court documents state.
The projects were met with numerous delays and excuses from Aleck, and eventually the couple stopped returning messages, the court documents allege. Refunds were allegedly not given.
Some customers reported receiving a text message from Andrea claiming that Aleck had a heart attack, which was a reason for the delays.
A deputy reportedly met with the couple in May 2023. According to court documents, Aleck admitted to taking money from two of the clients but not completing the work or returning the money. He also allegedly told the deputy that he entered into the projects and got overwhelmed with his additional projects.
A review of bank records, dates and transactions allegedly revealed that Aleck was at out-of-state casinos "during the time he was purportedly not available to perform work and around the dates he supposedly had a heart attack."
Between April 2, 2022 and March 29, 2023, records show Aleck paid approximately $1.4 million – some of which were allegedly clients’ funds – to the gaming tables and slot machines at a Louisiana casino and received winnings of $212,684.62, court documents state.
Between April 14, 2023 and December 9, 2023, Andrea allegedly paid $109,954.80 – some of which were allegedly clients’ funds – to the gaming tables and slot machines at that casino and received winnings of $32,525, according to court documents.
Court records show Aleck also has a another charge of theft-aggregate and a charge of theft from person/elderly from last year.
According to court records, Andrea is a teacher in Katy ISD. FOX 26 has reached out to the district.