Los Gatos interior designer Julie Cavanaugh, accused in June of 2011 of grand theft, forgery and contracting without a license, plead no contest to the charges on Friday, Feb. 16.
According to Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Lisa Schon, the entered plea has the same legal effect as a guilty plea.
Cavanaugh, 42, the owner of Design 101 Interiors located at the Los Gatos Shopping Center on North Santa Cruz Avenue, is accused of acting as a contractor by offering to fabricate or cut and install a granite countertop in a Saratoga home rather than just provide the design services, said Schon.
Cavanaugh had been previously warned by the Contractor State Licensing Board not to provide services beyond designing, according to Schon.
Cavanaugh inflated her prices to cover some losses and forged the homeowner's signature on some furniture order forms, Schon said, adding that the Saratoga victim lost about $100,000.
Cavanaugh is scheduled to appear in court for sentencing at 9 a.m., June 4 before Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Philip H. Pennypacker in department 30. She could face up to six months in Santa Clara County Jail and up to five years probation, Schon added.
Four victims were involved in the complaint and Cavanaugh plead no contest to all of them, she explained.
She will also have to obey a restitution order stipulated in the plea agreement, which means she'll have to pay one couple $250,000 and $130,000 to the other victims.
"I'm extremely pleased that there was a restitution order for what the victims requested," Schon said.
Calls to Cavanaugh's attorney, Dana Corey, weren't immediately returned by the time of this posting.
