A contractor who bilked homeowners ravaged by Superstorm Sandy out of hundreds of thousands of dollars was sentenced Friday to three years in prison.

George LaRosa, 50, of Barnegat, also will have to pay back $456,650 in restitution to 19 victims.

Prosecutors said that between February 2014 and June 2015, LaRosa entered into home-repair contracts with homeowners in Stafford, Lacey, Toms River, Long Beach, Ship Bottom and Little Egg Harbor through his company GL Construction. Instead of finishing the work, LaRosa left his victims high and dry after abandoning his business and using the payments he received for personal expenses.

LaRosa pleaded guilty in September to theft by failure to make required disposition.

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