On May 22, 2025, a Llano County jury convicted Wayne Alan Erickson, a Hays County resident, of first-degree felony theft by deception, stemming from a years-long home construction fraud scheme involving six families across Llano and Travis Counties. Erickson was sentenced by Visiting Judge Daryl Coffey to 10 years in prison, probated for 10 years, in addition to one year of incarceration in state jail for securing the execution of a document by deception. He was also ordered to pay $539,785 in restitution to victims and is permanently prohibited from working as a contractor or for family members in construction.
Erickson was indicted in 2018, after an investigation by the Horseshoe Bay Police Department revealed that he had taken significant payments from homeowners for construction projects he failed to complete. The prosecution aggregated cases involving six families—two in Llano County and four in Travis County—based on evidence of a common scheme over an eight-year period.
Trial evidence demonstrated that Erickson operated multiple business entities, many of which had forfeited charters, to gain homeowners’ trust and secure contracts. Once Erickson received large “draw” payments for specific construction phases, work would slow or cease altogether. His victims, some of whom returned from out of state to testify against him, often had to pay new contractors to complete or repair unfinished homes. In one case, Erickson presented a forged subcontractor invoice and overcharged the homeowners for work that was never completed.
