BOSTON -- A home improvement contractor will spend the next four years in prison after scamming 23 homeowners out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for sunrooms that were never built.

James Brien, 60, of North Andover, was sentenced Tuesday to four years in the Essex County House of Correction after being convicted of 23 counts of violating the Home Improvement Contractor Statute. He will be on probation for another 10 years after he completes his prison sentence.

Brien was also ordered to pay $365,586 in restitution to the victims, submit full annual financial disclosures to the Department of Probation and inform the Department of Probation of any business venture he undertakes.

In February 2004, the Attorney General’s Office began an investigation after receiving complaints from consumers claiming that Brien and his company, the now-defunct American Sunroom Co. Inc., failed to install sunrooms for their homes in accordance with contracts signed with the company. In all, prosecutors say Brien scammed 23 homeowners.

Investigators discovered that in many instances, Brien started the construction process for the sunrooms, but never finished the projects, accepting a total of over $450,000 from his customers in the process.

The Attorney General’s Office filed a civil complaint against Brien in February 2004 in Suffolk Superior Court, and obtained a preliminary injunction against Brien that same month. On April 4, 2007, the Attorney General’s Office obtained a $2 million civil judgment against Brien.

An Essex County grand jury returned indictments against Brien on June 21, 2006. He was arraigned in Essex Superior Court on July 6, 2006, where he entered a plea of not guilty and was released on personal recognizance. Brien’s jury-waived trial began on Jan. 11, 2010, and continued for nine days. Brien was convicted on Jan. 29.