Connecticut’s consumer watchdog has ordered a South Hartford businessman to stop conning state convicts and their families with promises of freedom, authorities say.
The state Department of Consumer Protection, baring its unfair trade practices teeth, said Tuesday it ordered Christopher C. Shuckra to halt his false and misleading claims that his business could help advocate –- for a fee — parole release for prisoners.
The agency claimed Shuckra and his business, Innovative Sentencing Solutions, had already duped 28 victims, whom he has been ordered to immediately repay $37,416.
Clients paid between $500 to $2,500 to Shuckra and ISS but got little, including partial refunds, in return, officials said.
Both also drew the state’s ire from having ISS listed in the “lawyers” section of a website, although neither he nor his firms have state law licenses, authorities said.
A phone message Tuesday to ISS’s office at 425 Franklin Ave. wasn’t immediately returned.
