MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — An unlicensed pool contractor has been arrested on multiple charges after several people reached out to Mobile officials about a pool contractor who would take their money and disappear.

In May, alleged victims first reported to the Mobile District Attorney’s office, sparking an investigation.

“We knew we weren’t going to get our money back,” alleged victim Ty Prim said. “But it was just to warn other people not to hire this guy.”

Now, after learning of Gill arrest Prim said this was a victory.

“I think we have been vindicated in our passions to go after him,” Prim said.

Prim first hired Gill in February of 2022 after being enticed by Gill’s Facebook.

“He had a lot of great pictures of pools that he had done, and a lot of people had complemented him,” Prim said.

Quickly after hiring him, he found that the promised three month long project would take much longer. After a year of the back-and-forth battle Prim fired Gill.

“The first red flag was after he got the first draw, he said, ‘I’ll be back next week to start on the hot tub,'” Prim said. “He didn’t show up.”

But Prim is only one of the many alleged victims to Gill.

“All the stories are very similar,” Prim said. “He comes out, he gets a couple of draws and then you don’t see him for weeks, sometimes months at a time.”

During the time Gill would be missing, alleged victims would have gigantic holes sitting in their back yards. Prim said that for him, the unfinished work in the drainage system led to flooding whenever it rained.

Prim said he was one of the lucky ones to only lose over $40,000 to Gill, while others have lost life savings.

“If we would’ve done just a little homework, if we would have just googled his name, we would’ve never hired him,” Prim said.

Thursday morning, James Gill was booked into Mobile County metro jail on 12 counts of theft and 11 counts of identity theft.

Gill will have a bond hearing on Sept. 1.