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A Toledo woman is facing a man who stole almost everything from her in court
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A Toledo woman is facing a man who stole almost everything from her in court

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – A Toledo woman had a year she’ll never forget, and a Toledo man is now facing prison for the theft scheme he put her through.

“Some days I keep replaying what he did to me. My spirit is broken, I’ve lost my will to live. This has affected my ability to recover as an amputee,” the victim said in her impact statement.

Kyle Conaway was hired as a contractor to make the woman’s home wheelchair accessible.

During the renovations, it arrived stealing almost everything in the house while she was away.

Conaway appeared before a judge Wednesday awaiting sentencing for the theft.

“Where I went wrong a few months before this, I was back in the middle of addiction,” Conaway told the judge.

Conaway said the job was a bigger undertaking than he expected and he wasn’t in the right frame of mind. Since his arrest, he said he has been working on addiction recovery.

Conaway apologized to the victim.

“I take full responsibility and accountability for this and I deeply apologize for it,” Conaway said in court.

13 Action News spoke with the victim after the sentencing. She only wanted to be identified by her first name, Sue.

“I made a mistake, I hired the wrong person, but he didn’t have to take all his personal items. It’s the things I can’t replace, that I’ll never get back,” said Sue.

Before reading her impact statement in court, Sue listed everything Conaway took from her. It took her more than six minutes to go through the list, which included items large and small, from appliances, lights in her home, towels, fridge magnets and copper from her bathroom fixtures. Conaway also stole family heirlooms and sentimental items, selling some of them online.

“Losing all my family photos has made me feel like an orphan as I have no physical history of who I am, no connection to my past, no memories to cherish,” Sue told the court.

A judge sentenced Conaway to two years in prison for the theft and one year in prison for the assault charges. He was accused after punching police officers during his arrest.

Sue says she wishes the sentence was longer but is glad this part of the ordeal is over.

“I feel like some justice has been done,” Sue said. “I’m glad the judge gave him the sentence he did and I feel we can be safer now.”

Even if the judicial proceedings are over for Conaway and one of his associates, Elizabeth Russell, a third man accused of theft, Scott Dibert, has yet to appear in court.

Sue said she is now undergoing treatment for anxiety, depression and lack of sleep after what she has been through.

Conaway and Russell were ordered to pay Sue $1,500 in restitution.

Sue’s message to anyone hearing her story is to only go through reliable sources when finding an entrepreneur. Don’t believe the reviews they have on their website because you don’t know if they were fake. The next time she finds someone to work on her house, she says she’ll go through the BBB.

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