HAMILTON COUNTY — A Greene County Florist accused of scamming dozens of brides by not showing up or cancelling on their wedding days is in custody again.
Desiree Pace, 40, was arrested on Jan. 30, according to Hamilton County jail records.
Pace was indicted in October on charges of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft and telecommunications fraud, according to Hamilton County Common Pleas Court records. She pleaded not guilty to charges that same month.
News Center 7 first reported on accusations against Pace in July 2021, when we learned more than a dozen people had filed complaints with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office about Pace and her business, Flowers by Des. Complainants from Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Hamilton, Warren, Brown, Butler, Fairfield and Franklin counties shared stories about paying for flowers and not getting them or their money back.
In September 2021, the Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost announced that his office filed a civil lawsuit against Pace, claiming she violated the Consumer Sales Practices Act and ripped off 48 people. The state won its case in June 2022 and a judge ordered Pace to pay $104,000 and to cease doing business.
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Now Pace is facing charges in connection to accusations of ripping off customers. In court documents filed in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, Pace is accused of stealing $31,509 from 28 people that contracted Flowers by Des between August 2019 and June 2021.
News Center 7 spoke with Kelsey Fox Friday. Fox, one of dozens of brides scammed by Pace, said she’s been getting her court-ordered payments from Pace, but these new charges have made her worried she won’t see the rest of the money the Pace owes her.
“I don’t think that she has any money to begin with. I definitely don’t think she has enough money to take care of all of us,” Fox said.
Fox told us that she believes if Pace can’t continue to pay, she should serve time jail.
“I won’t see that money, but in the grand scheme of things I think going to prison is in everyone’s best interest,” Fox said.
Pace is currently being held in the Hamilton County Jail on a $50,000 bond. Online jail records indicate that her next court appearance is Feb. 15.
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