(File Photo of a Gavel)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Harrisburg, PA) Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced a settlement today with Gillece Services, LP, Gillece Plumbing and Heating, Inc., Thomas Gillece Sr., Thomas Gillece Jr., and two former Gillece technicians to resolve allegations that these defendants misled Pennsylvania consumers into paying for unnecessary home improvement work, particularly, sewer pipe replacements, and engaged in scare tactics, amongst other allegations.

This settlement was filed in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in the form of a Consent Order, and it consists of $700,000 in consumer restitution, $50,000 in costs, and $250,000 in suspended civil penalties.

The settlement also bans two former Gillece technicians who were named as defendants, James F. Hackwelder and Joseph A. Nikoula, from the plumbing industry for a five year period.