Birmingham Homebuilder Sentenced to 58 Months for $1.2 Million Fraud

A Birmingham homebuilder who defrauded more than a dozen people out of over $1.2 million has been sentenced to prison.

U.S. District Judge Annemarie Carney Axon sentenced 58-year-old Cecil Wayne Sanford to nearly five years in prison. He was also ordered to pay $1.27 million in restitution, according to a statement released Wednesday by Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples.

Sanford operated as a residential builder in Alabama through his business, Stone Pointe Builders, LLC.

Between 2020 and early 2022, more than a dozen victims in the Birmingham area contracted with Sanford to build their homes and paid him substantial sums of money—tens of thousands of dollars or more.

Despite these payments, the work was never completed, even though Sanford made representations, drew on their construction loans, and issued invoices for construction-related expenses.

Authorities revealed that Sanford made false statements about how the funds would be used and instead spent the money on other purposes, including his living expenses.

In February 2022, days after closing a construction contract with a family and collecting over $27,000 from them as a down payment, Sanford moved $10,000 into his personal bank account, withdrew it, abruptly closed his business, and left town.

The FBI investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney J.B. Ward is prosecuting. The Alabama Home Builders Licensure Board assisted in the investigation.