A roofing and concrete contractor who admitted to felony theft and other charges was ordered Friday to pay nearly $20,000 in restitution and write letters of apology to the victims.

Anthony "Tony" Jackson Summerlin, 37, was sentenced by District Judge Ingrid Gustafson after he previously pleaded guilty to six felony theft charges, two felony bad-check charges, one felony count of employer misconduct and three misdemeanor counts of theft.

For the felony theft convictions and one of the bad-check charges, Gustafson sentenced Summerlin to concurrent eight-year suspended terms with the state Department of Corrections. Gustafson imposed a concurrent three-year suspended sentence for the second bad-check charge, and a concurrent two-year suspended sentence the employer misconduct charge.

For the misdemeanor charges, Gustafson imposed concurrent six-month jail sentences. She also ordered Summerlin to pay a $1,000 fine, write letters of apology to the victims and pay $19,646 in restitution. The judge said payment of restitution should be Summerlin's priority.

Summerlin was charged in June. Prosecutors said he operated a construction contracting business under several names, advertising for roofing and concrete services in The Billings Gazette. The victims contacted Summerlin through the advertisement for home construction.

Summerlin required a 50 percent down payment for the projects and failed to return the money when the projects were not started or completed.

The newspaper's advertising manager was among the victims. Ryan Brosseau said he hired Summerlin's company because of the advertisement and paid a $500 deposit for concrete work at his home. The work was never done, and Brosseau was unable to get a refund from Summerlin.

Brosseau told police the newspaper stopped running the ads from Summerlin after receiving numerous complaints.

The employer misconduct charge stemmed form Summerlin's failure to get workers compensation insurance for his employees after he was notified of the requirement.

Summerlin declined to make a statement before he was sentenced.