FOX 29 Investigates: 'Godfather' Faces Trials, Fines

PHILADELPHIA - Local families are outraged that they're still trying to get their money back from a contractor who calls himself the "godfather." They say his jobs were poorly done, if at all.

He faces legal trouble, fines and wasn't very happy to see Jeff Cole a few weeks ago.
Watch what happened as FOX 29 Investigates.

You may remember Anthony DiMatteo. The "Godfather of Concrete" was not happy about our reunion.

"Anthony, talk to me for a minute," Cole said.

"Get out of my face," DiMatteo said. "Get out of my…"

As Cole began to ask, "How's your business?" DiMatteo reached out and slapped the microphone.

We told you in the fall about customers' complaints with the business DiMatteo runs with his wife, Kim Monaco, out of their Sewell, N.J., home.

Ron and Nancy Fallon, of Atco, not only didn't get their backyard pool deck and walkways finished. They say their pool liner cracked when water swept beneath it while they waited.

Plus, there's this: "He called me a cripple M-F'er. I don't want to repeat exactly what he had said," Ron Fallon said.

The Fallons hold a $2,700 court judgment against DiMatteo but have yet to get paid.

Walt and Sherry McGuire hired the "Godfather" to lay a paver patio behind their Mantua home.

But when another contractor checked the work, Walt McGuire told us, "He says, 'This patio's just going to collapse.' And he says, 'Your back wall, the first good rain you get, it's just going to roll down the hill.'"

DiMatteo cut a check, it bounced, and he never brought the McGuires' fire pit.

Then, they say, he threatened to embarrass their family.

A third couple from Williamstown was promised a pool deck stamped and colored like hardwood, but got this instead: "It's supposed to be shiny-looking wood, and it is gray, like old boardwalk look," the homeowner said.

Not to mention there were cracks, spots, ripples, a hose mark and a boot print.

They, too, had the work completely redone at a cost of $10,000 before it could push in the walls of their pool.

They only got some of their money back from a credit card company.

DiMatteo claimed the Fallons wanted too many changes. The McGuires wouldn't pay for the second half of their work, and he didn't threaten them, while he says the third family was tough to deal with.

But the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs investigated complaints from these three customers and two others.

Violations were filed against DiMatteo and Monaco for, among other things, failing to register as home improvement contractors and not completing work on time.

They can settle or get whacked with a $7,000 civil penalty and $15,000 in restitution.

That's not the only legal trouble for Anthony Kuhne Dimatteo. He's been in and out of court on numerous cases and spent time in federal prison on firearms and threat counts. The 52-year-old was seeking bankruptcy protection but that case was tossed when customers objected. He'll likely face two trials in the spring.

In Philadelphia, he faces terroristic threat and contempt charges.

He allegedly texted his ex-wife that he'd have benefits cut off, "and a few other things" in store for her, if she messed with his boat!

We asked him outside Family Court about his affairs.

DiMatteo: "Get the f--- out of my face!"
Cole: "What are you angry about? I didn't get a chance to ask you a question."
DiMatteo: "F---ing A--hole. Get out of my. Get out of my face."
Cole: "Are you still in the business?"
DiMatteo: "Get out of my face."
Cole: "Are you still in the business?"
(Microphone slapped again)
DiMatteo: "Get out of my face."
Cole: "All right, Anthony, wow! We didn't even come near you."
DiMatteo: "Next time, I'll jam the camera down your throat!"
Cole: "Are you still in the concrete business, or you done now?"
DiMatteo: 'Your mother's - I'm in your mother's business, that's what I'm in."
Cole: "Oh, OK. So, May 3rd trial, right, on this?"

We also went to his court appearance Monday in Mantua on a bad check charge.

A judge gave him 30 more days to pay the McGuires $1,500.

"What's your thought about that?" Cole asked.

"The guy's continuing to do the same thing over and over and over again to people, you know, innocent people who work hard for their money," Walt McGuire said.

This time, a lawyer snuck DiMatteo out a back door to avoid our camera.

The contractor - who also uses the business names "DiMatteo & Son Concrete" and "Elay Custom Concrete" - faces a $15,000 civil case next week brought by the Williamstown couple.

Yet, he still advertises on South Jersey Craigslist, offering to do "concrete / hardscape" work.

Previous versions of the ad said reply to "Tony" at one of his phone numbers.

And he lists a Pennsylvania contractor license number that's not his.

Former customers are fed up.

"You know, I'm a heart and kidney transplant recipient," Walt McGuire said. "My wife is a breast cancer survivor. I work hard to earn my money and keep my money, and not have somebody stick their hands into my pockets and just take it. So, yeah, I'm quite angry."