Christoval Couple Indicted for Stealing over $50,000

SAN ANGELO, TX— A Christoval couple have been indicted for theft after being contracted to build a pool that was never built.

Rance and Tanya Millican, owners of Deep Blue Pools, have been indicted by a Tom Green County grand jury for Theft of Property >=$30,000 < $150,000.

According to court documents, on December 11, 2023, the victim filed a report with the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office alleging that he signed a contract with both Rance and Tanya Millican to build a swimming pool on his property in Carlsbad, Texas.

The victim made an initial deposit of $52,638 and construction on the pool was supposed to begin during October 2022. He reported that Tanya personally came out to his property to take measurement and check the ground to decide how best to build the swimming pool.

On December 11, 2023, over a year later, neither Rance or Tanya started any construction work on the pool and had not even come back out to the property since Tanya had done the initial measurements.

The Millicans both made excuses to the victim over the months about why they had not started building. In January 2023, both Rance and Tanya had cut off all communications with the victim.

The victim provided a sworn statement of fact and provided documentation to the Tom Green County Sheriff’s Office which included the signed contract between Deep Blue Pools and the victim. He also provided a copy of a Demand Letter and a Breach of Contract Letter that were sent to the Millicans.

Also, the victim filed a civil lawsuit against the couple in an attempt to recover the $52,638 he paid for the pool. The Millicans were served with the civil lawsuit paperwork, and they filed an Answer to the lawsuit which stated “Rance and Tanya Millican, Deep Blue Pools… We will contact plaintiffs and try to resolve this.”.

The victim was interviewed by the investigator where he stated that he spoke to Rance on the phone in May 2023. When the victim demanded his money back Rance told him that he didn’t have the money anymore and that some “unexpected expenses” had come up.

Investigators submitted a grand jury subpoena to Prosperity Bank for Rance Millican’s bank records. The bank provided records that showed a checking account named DPA Deep Blue Pools with Rance listed as the owner of the account and Tanya listed on the signature card.

The bank record showed that $52,638 was deposited into the bank account on September 12, 2022, and records after that date showed numerous personal debits withdrawn from the account including HEB, Applebees, Wal-Mart, Buffalo Wild Wings, cash withdrawls, and credit card payments. As of December 2022, the bank account had a negative balance of $1,720.

Rance and Tanya Millican were arrested on December 19, 2023, and both were released the next day, each on $30,000 bond.