A local auctioneer was charged with felony grand larceny by the New York State Police on Sunday after he was accused of failing to pay $19,000 to a customer who used his services, troopers said.

The current charge against Timothy Conroy, 45, of Elbridge, who is the president of the auction and appraisal companies T.W. Conroy and Associates and its Internet affiliate, My Sister the Lister, comes eight months after an Onondaga County Court ordered him to pay more than $150,000 in settlements to nearly two dozen customers who accused him of failing to pay them after using him to sell their items at auction.

According to officials from the state Attorney General's Office, Conroy has fallen behind in making scheduled payments for that restitution.

In the recent incident, Conroy is accused of failing to pay a customer for items that were sold during a June 7 auction.

Conroy said he has been trying to make partial payments to all of his customers, but has been unable to because of financial problems that go back at least 18 months. Conroy also said bad business practices and bookkeeping played a part in missing payments.

“I am sorry it happened, it's very unfortunate, but unfortunately it came to be,” Conroy said. “I am working really hard, and if people would work with me, I will get them their money ... It's been very hard for me right now, business is slow.”

With an injunction put in place by the Attorney General's Office on Nov. 25, business is not looking to get any better until Conroy can pay a $500,000 performance bond.

According to court documents, if Conroy does not pay the bond, he will not be allowed to participate in any auctions. The bond would be used to pay restitution to his previous customers and to cover any future problems.

In the documents, Conroy's attorney, Joseph Talarico, was also ordered to set up an escrow account for both businesses. That account will be used to hold auction payments until they can be delivered to the customer.

“All of the financial aspects have already been handed over to an independent third party,” Conroy said. “I use to think I could handle it myself, but its an awful lot of pressure. I use to have people to do it for me. I used to have 14 employees, but now its just me. I wasn't smart enough in the accounting field to understand what was happening as it happened.”