Owner of Belissimo Interiors Gets 30 Years in Prison for Defrauding Customers

District Attorney Warren Montgomery reports that Danielle Gaspard, owner of the Mandeville-based Belissimo Interiors, was sentenced Friday to 30 years in prison for defrauding multiple clients out of thousands of dollars between December 2019 and February 2020.

Gaspard, 36, of Ponchatoula, had seven prior felony theft and fraud convictions and was sentenced by District Judge Scott Gardner as a multiple offender. Gardner considered Gaspard’s criminal history, as well as the severity of the charged offenses, in rejecting a request by her attorney to sentence her to less than the mandatory minimum of 20 years on some of the charges.

Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Authement prosecuted the case. Detective Donald Plaisance of the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated it.

Two separate cases against Gaspard involve multiple victims, who all paid her for various home renovation projects by her company, but she did either some of the work or none at all. Gaspard pled guilty to the crimes in February.

In the first six-count case, Gardner handed down the following sentences, which are to be served at the same time:

· Count 1, theft of $25,000 or more, 30 years

· Counts 2, 3, 4, and 5, theft of $5,000 to $25,000, 20 years on each

· Count 6, theft of $1,000 to $5,000, 20 years

In the second case, the concurrent sentences are:

· Count 1, residential contractor fraud of $25,000 or more, 30 years

· Count 2, misapplication of payments over $1,000, 20 years

· Count 3, residential contractor fraud of $5,000 to $25,000, 20 years

· Count 4, misapplication of payments over $1,000, 20 years

· Count 5, forgery of a certificate of insurance, 20 years

· Count 6, residential contractor fraud of $5,000 to $25,000, 20 years

· Count 7, residential contractor fraud for $25,000 or more, 20 years.

Gaspard’s criminal history includes the following convictions: in 2008, issuing worthless checks; 2008, bank fraud; 2008, bank fraud; 2010, theft; 2016, theft; 2013, issuing worthless checks over; and 2013, theft.