Gregg and Diana Howell, owners of general contractor Worldwide Concrete and Steel Erections, pleaded guilty in Warren Circuit Court Monday to charges of theft by deception over $300.

The Howells deceived American Bank and Trust in Bowling Green in March by having money wired to their local account from a bank in the western U.S. The couple then sent the money back to the western bank, said Chris Cohron, commonwealth’s attorney for Warren County.

Meanwhile, each withdrew $10,000 from the American Bank and Trust account prior to bank records indicating the money was no longer there. The bank made several attempts to get them to repay the money and they did pay back a portion before being charged, Cohron said, but have now paid American Bank and Trust the entire $20,000 in restitution.

Both accepted five-year prison sentences in their plea agreements, which also combined charges from previous cases. Final sentencing for the Howells is at 1 p.m. Feb. 19.

Police also served two outstanding warrants to Gregg Howell, who was wanted in Arizona and Virginia for other theft charges, according to Detective Mike Lemon of the Bowling Green Police Department.

Howell is currently in the Warren County Regional Jail, according to his attorney, J. Alan Donohue, who represented Howell in court Monday.

&#8220Yes, his probation got revoked, and he was placed under arrest with the Arizona case,” Donohue said Tuesday.

The Arizona warrant involves rental equipment that wasn’t paid for, Donohue said.

District Judge Brent Potter said Tuesday that when Howell pays for the equipment, he will be released from jail.

Bond was set at $10,000, Donohue said.

There were people from Texas, Louisiana and Tennessee in court Monday, all who said they had bad experiences with Howell.

But Donohue said Howell’s side of the story has yet to be told and that much of the negative publicity stems from a former employee, fired for drug use, who has been contacting customers. Neither Diana Howell or Donohue have answered a reporter’s requests to produce documentation that backs up their case.

Locally, Southside Church of Christ members claim Howell has failed to deliver on a contract to build a new building.

Church member Charles Clark, chairman of the building committee, said the year-old church currently meets at a building on Lovers Lane and Cemetery Road, but has plans for a new church at 6600 Plano Road.

Clark said he signed a contract with Howell a year ago, but has only received promises and little work on the church.

&#8220What little bit he did was not done right,” Clark said. &#8220We should have our new building by now. We would like to get our $23,000 back.”

In December, Clark sent Howell a letter to cut ties and ask for a refund of the contract, but now he expects to receive only a fraction of the money back.

&#8220We’re coming out light compared to some other people. We’re absorbing the loss and going on,” he said.

Howell’s license from the Bowling Green-Warren County Contractors Licensing Board was suspended in December, according to board director Bob Appling.

&#8220We found out that his insurance had lapsed, so we suspended him,” Appling said Wednesday morning.

Because of all the complaints the board received, Howell can only be relicensed in Warren County if he comes back before the board for a hearing, Appling said.

Questions about money still haunt pastor Artis Edwards, whose congregation in Brenham, Texas, bears the burden of a $160,000 loan for a church that Edwards said Howell failed to build.

The church is paying Central Texas Construction to build their church for more than $100,000, and now $260,000 will be needed to complete the interior, according to Edwards.

&#8220And we don’t have it. We just don’t have it,” Edwards said.

But being in court Monday gave Edwards a small measure of satisfaction.

&#8220Just being there, our presence along with others who have been scammed made a difference,” Edwards said.

Edwards plans to pursue criminal charges against Howell, even though he already has a civil lawsuit pending in Washington County District Court in Texas.

Scott Nall, of Lafayette, La., was also in court. He said he contracted with Howell for a building in Nashville in December 2005.

Nall said he has come across at least a dozen people who are in a similar situation, because Howell &#8220has done no work at the site,” he said.

At least three of Howell’s former employees, two of whom say they’re still owed back pay, were in court Monday.

Sharon Kinser, Howell’s former bookkeeper and secretary, said Howell intentionally avoided customers and lived lavishly while she received frustrated phone calls at the office from unsatisfied customers.

&#8220They did not accept checks, just wire transfers,” she said. &#8220They spent $300 just getting specialty-cut meat.”

Kinser also apologized to Edwards – though she was just doing what she was told, she said, she didn’t feel right about what happened.

&#8220I felt guilty. I felt sorry,” Kinser said.

John Fulcher of Lexington said he worked for Howell after responding to a classified ad. Yet after being sent to Brenham, Texas, Fulcher was surprised to learn that no money had been allotted for construction.

&#8220Gregg Howell sent a crew of men against an alleged contract,” Fulcher said. &#8220It looked good because I had my own trailer and my own tools. The minute he got all that money, he started sending everyone home.”

Fulcher said he received a check for $200 but is owed at least $5,000 for hotel expenses, labor and other fees he paid out-of-pocket.

&#8220They left me high and dry with my trailer and everything,” Fulcher said.

– Daily News reporter Burton Speakman contributed to this story.