A Macomb Township woman has nearly repaid all of the $35,000 she owed to eight people she scammed through her fence company but faces a new criminal charge for defrauding another victim.

Laura Dietz, 43, appeared Thursday in front of Macomb County Circuit Judge Judge Jennifer Faunce in Mount Clemens for a review hearing on her seven convictions for larceny by conversion between $1,000 and $20,000. The actions were committed in 2022.

Dietz, who operated Dietz Fence Co., paid $14,000 Thursday prior to the hearing to increase the amount she has compensated her victims to nearly $30,000, over $5,000 short of full restitution.

Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Stephanie Strace asked the judge invoke jail time for not paying the full amount, noting Dietz had more than a year to mitigate her thefts.

“She was offered a very favorable sentence,” Strace said of Dietz’s sentencing in March 2024. “She knew what the consequences were. Evading her responsibility is not something she can do any further. Additionally, she has picked up a new charge doing the same exact thing with the same exact story. At this point, enough is enough.”

At that sentening last year, Faunce warned her, “Any new cases and you will see some jail time.”

“You will not see that,” Dietz replied.

Faunce did not jail Dietz but granted Strace’s request to revoke her status known as, “7411,” a reference to its law number. That would have allowed her charges to be dismissed if she repaid all of the money by now.

Faunce said keeping her out of jail will allow her to work and earn money to pay the rest of what she owes. Dietz is working at a pet-related business.

Faunce noted the convictions will now remain on her public record.

“You will continue on probation and everyone will be paid back in full or you are going to see a lot of jail time,” Faunce told Dietz.

The maximum penalty is five years.

In her new case, she is accused of using a similar method of bilking people of their money — allegedly taking a deposit for a project but failing to perform the work.

The alleged victim, who did not want her name used, told The Macomb Daily Dietz collected a $7,500 deposit for a nearly $15,000 job in early June 2024 from her to tear down a wooden fence and install a vinyl fence at a Macomb Township home. Supposed workers for Dietz’s company, Valor Fence Co., failed to show up for scheduled project dates twice in mid-June, the woman said. Dietz returned $2,500 after, “I got upset” with her, the woman said. But Dietz failed to refund $5,000 or perform the work.

The woman filed a police report July 1 with the Macomb County Sheriff’s Office.

Dietz was bound over to circuit court earlier this year on charges of false pretenses between $1,000 and $20,000, third offense or more, and gaining a signature with intent to commit fraud by Judge Stephen Sierawski following a preliminary examination in 41A District Court in Shelby Township.

The third offense notice triples the maximum jail term to 15 years. A judge could also fine her up to $15,000 or three times the amount pilfered.

Sierawski also dismissed three additional charges of false pretenses and larceny by conversion, both between $1,000 and $20,000, and another count of signature fraud.

Dietz, who is free on a $5,000 personal bond in that case, faces an April 28 pretrial for her new case.

In the courtroom during Thursday’s hearing, Dietz used her attorney, Ken Karam, and paperwork to shield her face from a media camera.

Outside the courtroom, she protested being photographed, and added, “I don’t even owe any customers anymore, sir,” as she entered an elevator.