Coming up: Restitution hearing for South County’s ‘landscape scammer’

South County’s “landscape scammer” is still behind bars this summer and will soon have his restitution hearing at the South County Courthouse in Morgan Hill.
Michael Oliveira, the 43-year-old Gilroy man who scammed at least 25 people into paying him for landscape services he never completed, was sentenced April 17 to 120 days in county prison, according to Yen Dang, Santa Clara County fraud unit supervising deputy district attorney. Oliveira pled guilty to all 20 counts of theft and elder fraud Jan. 24.
Dang said the 120-day sentence was the sentencing for all of Oliveira’s violations.
Oliveira will have his reparation hearing July 17 at the South County Courthouse, Dang said. At the hearing, a judge will determine the amount of monetary compensation Oliveira will pay the victims based on evidence of their loss.
Unsure of the exact dollar amount Oliveira will have to repay his victims, Janet Berry, the deputy DA prosecuting the case, described it as a “hefty chunk of change.”
Oliveira was arrested July 21, 2012 in Gilroy, one month after the Santa Clara County DA’s Office launched an investigation into 18 reports from Gilroy and Morgan Hill residents who claimed they were scammed by a “charming” middle-aged man trolling for money under the guise of an independent landscaper.