Instead of an updated kitchen with new cabinets, a Buffalo Township couple will get back the $12,719 they paid a contractor for the project.

But they are getting that by way of court-ordered restitution.

The contractor, Jason Whitcomb of TriJor Construction in Armstrong County, on Thursday was sentenced in Butler County Court for one count of home improvement fraud.

Court records say Whitcomb on Dec. 5, 2015, received a check from William and Dona Braun for work on a kitchen and new cabinets. Police records say the couple signed a contract agreeing to have the work completed by the end of January 2016.

When the deadline came and went, the couple tried to reach the contractor, as well as the cabinet maker, according to court records. The cabinet maker said no order had been placed.

Court records say Whitcomb offered to repay the money, but instead referred the couple to his lawyer.

During sentence court Thursday, William Braun told the judge the contractor took advantage of him by leading him to believe Whitcomb was a veteran.

Whitcomb told the judge that during his 15 years of contracting work, this is the first time he had a problem. He alleged the couple canceled the contract, and he couldn’t retrieve the money.

Butler County Judge William Shaffer sentenced Whitcomb to serve 84 months on probation. However, if he pays the couple back sooner, the probation might be terminated sooner.