A contractor who performed shoddy and unfinished work in homes across Maine was arrested in Alaska last week, but he won’t yet be coming back to answer for the charges.
Police in Palmer, Alaska, arrested 37-year-old Jake Brown on July 21 for an active warrant from Kennebec County for one count each of theft by deception, a Class B felony, and home repair fraud, a Class D misdemeanor.
He was held in Alaska without bond so Maine could extradite him, but Maeghan Maloney, District Attorney for Kennebec and Somerset County, said her office opted not to bring him back to Maine “due to the cost.”
Alaska law enforcement then released him, according to a clerk from the Palmer courthouse. The warrant for Brown’s arrest remains active.
The arrest is the latest development in investigations into Brown, who the Bangor Daily News exposed in October 2024 after several former clients filed complaints of poor or unfinished work against him. Brown once lived in Palermo and ran JBRH Excavation and Welding Fabrication.
Maloney did not say Wednesday how much extraditing Brown to Maine would’ve cost. It’s unclear when Brown is alleged to have committed the crimes he’s charged with in Kennebec County.
“He will likely be arrested again and at that time the DA’s Office will reassess whether we have the money required for the extradition,” Maloney said. “There are no pending court dates until he is returned to Maine.”
The statement from Palmer police says Brown now lives in Anchorage, Alaska. Attempts to reach Brown Wednesday were unsuccessful.
Attorney General Aaron Frey’s office signed an agreement with Brown earlier this year that requires him to pay $350,000 over 15 years through monthly installments. The office will make distributions to victims several times a year.
That came after a judge said in January that Brown was liable for $2.5 million in restitution and barred him from doing any excavation or construction work in Maine. However, Frey’s office found Brown was unable to pay that sum.
The agreement ensures Brown’s former clients will get a fraction of what the contractor owes them for shabby or undone work after being paid up front.
The attorney general filed a December complaint against Brown that found his company performed defective work on at least 14 occasions and did not complete work in at least 20 instances since 2022.
