Steve Docchio appears in court in an unsuccessful bid to have his bail reduced.
For the second time, the owner of a pool company who’s accused of leaving a path of destruction across Massachusetts lost an argument to have his bail reduced as he awaits trial in Plymouth County.
As the NBC10 Investigators reported in July, Steven Docchio was arrested on a warrant following a grand jury investigation that resulted in a 17-count criminal indictment.
In November, a Plymouth County Superior Court judge declined to lower Docchio’s bail from $50,000 down to $10,000.
On Monday, Judge William Sullivan heard a new argument from the contractor’s public defender, Ryan Matthews.
It is Docchio’s third attorney on the case.
At his arraignment in July, the pool contractor fired his public defender during the proceeding and addressed the judge directly as he defended himself against all the failed projects documented in NBC10’s “To Catch a Contractor” series.
Following the failed bail argument in November, Docchio’s public defender asked to withdraw from the case, citing an “irretrievable breakdown” in communication.
During the hearing, Matthews said his client had jobs where he was currently owed payments that he’d been unable to collect while in custody.
“His only source of income has now been weaponized against him with a criminal indictment and he cannot seek payment,” Matthews said.
Docchio is revoked as a home improvement contractor in Massachusetts and one of the conditions of his bail is that he is prohibited from working in the construction industry. Plymouth County prosecutor Alexander Zane reiterated his stance that Docchio is the “epitome of a flight risk,” pointing to the contractor’s ties to Brazil, his convictions in other states, and his history of court defaults.
Zane said the contractor did not change his behavior, even after finding himself in the public spotlight.
“With NBC10 showing what he’s doing, he continues to do it,” Zane said. “So there is serious concern that even the strongest conditions or the strongest commands from the court, he’s never shown that he’ll take this seriously.”
After hearing the arguments, Judge Sullivan decided the $50,000 bail should remain in place.
Docchio’s next court date is scheduled for February 5.
