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Karen Reese, 13News

Richard Pirozzi, outside Norfolk Federal Court after his hearing on fraud charges.

A Maryland man pleaded not guilty in Norfolk Federal Court Wednesday to charges he defrauded dozens of people in Hampton Roads of hundreds of thousands of dollars in the aftermath of Hurricane Isabel.

Richard C. Pirozzi, 49, of Tracys Landing, Maryland, faces mail fraud and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property, according to a December indictment released by the U.S. Attorney's office.

He remains free until his May 21 trial.

The judge said Pirozzi cannot leave Maryland or Virginia until that time.

Pirozzi owned and operated National Restoration Specialists, Inc., which promised to repair damage to homes following the September 18, 2003 storm but didn't in most cases, investigators allege.

"They seemed very legit. They told us they were a national company," said Alice Curtis, a law professor who said she paid the company $7,000 - half the contract - in advance of the work starting on her shredded roof. She told 13News she gave the money on condition it not be cashed immediately.

Curtis says it was cashed, though, and the repairs were never made.

Authorities said the company sometimes tore down already-damaged property but didn't make repairs; that it sometimes made inadequate or substandard repairs.

The indictment states Pirozzi's company solicited more jobs even though jobs already contracted weren't done.

According to investivators, homeowners gave National Restoration Specialists, Inc. their insurance or FEMA checks, which were deposited into company acounts instead of being send to their mortgage companies.

In all, 54 homeowners paid about $436,000.00 to National Restoration Specialists and did not receive the repairs services for which they had contracted, the indictment states.

In a December article in The Capital of Annapolis, Maryland, attorney Barry Coburn of Washington, D.C. said his client denies all charges. He told 13News that Pirozzi likely made mistakes, but they weren't intentional.

Curtis said she got her money back after threatening to sue the company.

"In retrospect, I think they fully knew what they were doing. Had they not, I think they would've vigorously pursued the matter to try and get me my funds back, I would've received an apology earlier and things would've been quite different."

"I was able to get my money back, but I understand I'm one of the few. I was able to get the money returned, but I'm very tenacious," Curtis added.