State College Cheesesteak Shop Owner Sentenced to 15-30 Years in Prison for Deceptive Business Practices in Philadelphia Area

A co-owner of a downtown State College cheesesteak shop was sentenced on Friday to a term of 15 to 30 years in state prison after pleading guilty to charges that his southeastern Pennsylvania electrical contracting company defrauded dozens of customers.

Joseph Ford, whose Campus Steaks opened at 119 S. Pugh St. in State College in 2023, was also ordered by a Montgomery County judge to pay $407,207 in restitution to customers in six counties who paid for work his company never performed, according to the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office.

Ford, 55, pleaded guilty in January to 74 felony counts of deceptive business practices.

According to affidavits of probable cause, Ford’s 1st Call Electric failed to install generators or perform other electrical work for which it accepted payments between December 2020 and October 2022.

Payments from homeowners and a business in Montgomery, Bucks, Berks, Chester, Delaware and Philadelphia counties ranged from $1,419 to $16,450.

The cases were consolidated in Montgomery County, and a trial had been scheduled for January before Ford entered a plea. He was initially charged in 2023 with more than 350 counts. The remaining charges were dismissed.

Ford told StateCollege.com in January that supply-chain issues and subsequent bad advice led to the failure to perform the promised services.

“I was in business for 31 years and we’re rated a five-star electrical contractor for all those years,” Ford said. “COVID beat us up with the generators, with the supply chain and everything like that. We couldn’t keep up on jobs obviously with lack of materials and supplies. I talked to a lawyer and he gave me bad advice. He told me to shut down. We shut down and obviously we didn’t do it the right way. “

Ford said at the time that he was cooperating with prosecutors and hoped to pay restitution and move on.

He has been the most visible face of Campus Steaks, but Ford said in January he did not expect the case would impact the restaurant, which has other owners.