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The Sarasota County Sheriff's Office has arrested an unlicensed contractor, who has a history of similar crimes, on dozens of new charges, the office has announced. Detectives found that Jose Rivera, 43, of 2731 Grand Cayman St., Sarasota, claimed to be a licensed contractor who was hired to do repairs at Bella Villano on Central Sarasota Parkway, a news release explains. From February 2013 to June 2013, Rivera submit ted 33 invoices to the complex's management company for jobs ranging from minor repairs to new installations, the release adds. "The management company paid him nearly $8,000 for this work, even though Rivera never pulled any required permits and has never been a licensed [heating and air conditioning sys tem] contractor in Florida," the release says. Rivera was found guilty of unlicensed con tracting in Manatee County following his arrest in a sting by the Sheriff's Office there in 2012, the release notes. He was also charged with unlicensed contracting by the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office in March 2013 for sim ilar offenses. As a result of the most recent investigation in Sarasota, Rivera has been charged with 33 felony counts of Unlicensed Contracting and one misdemeanor count of Unlicensed Contracting with a Previous Conviction. He was placed in jail under a $17,000 bond. % Jose Rivera/Contributed photo UNLICENSED CONTRACTOR ARRESTED BY SHERIFF'S OFFICE Simply put, Crime Stoppers relies upon the cooperation between the police the media and the community to provide a flow of information about crime and criminals. Call: (941) 366-TIPS (8477) Click: SarasotaCrimeStoppers.com Text: Text "TIP109" plus your message to CRIMES (274637) All submitted tips are secure and anonymous Sarasota News Leader April 11, 2014 Page 82