Frank Larosa, 43, from the Melbourne suburb of Point Cook, pleaded guilty in Shepparton Magistrates’ Court to obtaining property by deception and failing to answer bail.
Prosecutor Robyn Lindsay said Larosa checked into the Peppermill Inn in Kialla for 16 nights through online booking system Choice Hotels on February 18, 2021.
During his stay, Larosa spent $1913.20 on accommodation, $1213.65 on food and $237.90 on drinks, adding to a total of $3364.75 that he had to pay.
When he checked out on March 6, 2021, he did not attempt to pay the bill, and when Peppermill Inn staff tried to charge the bill to the credit card he had provided online, it declined, the court heard.
Larosa had provided a credit card that didn’t have the ability to be charged, Ms Lindsay said.
When contacted by the Peppermill Inn about the outstanding bill, he said it had been paid.
Ms Lindsay said Larosa told police he was staying at the Peppermill Inn due to “extreme heat” after the evaporative cooling at his home had stopped working.
Larosa said his landlord was supposed to reimburse him some of the hotel stay, but he said he would pay it back on a payment plan, the court heard.
Larosa’s defence solicitor said her client checked into the hotel during a heat wave and believed the cost of his stay would be covered by points he had accrued on his Choice Hotels account.
The court heard Larosa failed to appear in court on bail on a different matter on March 1, 2022.
His defence said he had been in hospital for a day in late February after being punched in the head and that he didn’t recall the court date or having missed it.
Magistrate Simon Zebrowski said he thought the point scheme explanation sounded “weak”.
Speaking of Larosa’s prior charges, Mr Zebrowski said the accused had a history of periods of dishonesty and that, “you come to a crossroads, every few years, you make the wrong decision”.
Larosa was fined $1200 and ordered to pay back the $3364.75 he owed the Peppermill Inn.
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