Nov. 9--SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Mechanicville custom home builder James McLagan faced additional felony charges last week for allegedly not delivering on work and payments promised, but his attorney said Friday, "he's a man who fell upon hard times."

Police arrested McLagan last week on four new grand larceny charges for allegedly failing to pay two area companies more than $70,000 for work on homes he contracted to build in the city and town of Saratoga, court records say.

Special prosecutor Christopher Belling also accused McLagan of scheming to defraud, a misdemeanor, relating to earlier cases.

The 55-year-old builder was arraigned Wednesday in City Court, and set free on $10,000 bail posted by his friend Joseph Raccuia, president of SCA Paper in South Glens Falls.

In February, authorities charged McLagan with allegedly bilking more than $215,000 in down payments from clients for homes he never built in the city and Stillwater. He pleaded not guilty.

The latest charges accuse McLagan of not paying Harbrook Associates, an Albany window and door supplier, $60,000 for work and materials, and a Wilton plumbing contractor, Highland and Co. Associates, nearly $12,000 in labor costs, court records say.

McLagan's attorney, E. Stewart Jones, said investigators are acting irresponsibly, and making it harder for McLagan to pay back money he owes to people.

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