Grayson Man Charged with Theft Has Criminal Record

Information has been given to Patch highlighting previous cases against - some similar to the one he is now charged with in Snellville. Gore turned himself in to the Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 1 after it was announced there was a warrant out for his arrest. The charges arose from a complaint from Snellville resident Susan Barbee that Gore had taken more than $3,300 for a construction job that he did not complete. Gore bonded out the same day on $27,700 bond.

It appears, however, that the $3,300 was only the last, and one of the smallest, civil and criminal charges Gore has faced over the last 20 years. According to court records, he served 18 months of a 3-year sentence in Naples, Fla. on charges of grand theft for an amount of up to $20,000. He was released from a Florida detention center in 2008 and moved to Georgia, where he now faces more charges.

Melissa and Alan Delic, also of Grayson, won a $175,000 judgment against Gore for a similar situation on their commercial property in Lilburn three years ago.

“We sued him over the $30,000 job that he took on and didn’t complete,” Melissa Delic said. “We were awarded the $175,000 because we had to have plans and work redone. He got contractors in to do the work, we gave him progress payments, but he never paid the contractors. After we fired him, the contractors came and asked us for the money because they had never got it from him.”

Delic said Gore was a smooth talker and had approached them while he was doing work for the Oyster Barn in Lilburn. They were in the process of working on their commercial property next door.

“He claimed to have moved from Florida to Georgia to take care of his mother and said that he was a licensed contractor in Georgia. That was not true – he is not a licensed contractor at all,” Delic said. “We won the civil case, but have not seen a penny of the money. This man knows the system. He has tried to file bankruptcy several times, but we have managed to stop him. We still haven’t seen any of the money though.”

Delic said the owners of Oyster Barn also sued Gore civilly, but Babee decided not to do it civilly. She went to the Snellville police and a criminal warrant was issued for Gore.

According to records from Collier County, Fla., Gore also has a probation violation connected to his grand theft conviction. Records show he also has several civil cases against him between 2001 and 2006.

Editor's note: This article has been updated to clarify aspects of Gore's criminal history.