The owner of a Bridgeport construction business was sentenced this month to three years of probation, including six months of home confinement, for lying to federal workers who were conducting a job site investigation.
Luis F. Estrada, 48, of Bridgeport, must also perform 250 hours of community service, according to the sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Victor A. Bolden.
The sentencing comes a year after Estrada entered a guilty plea and admitted making false statements and submitting false documents to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
Estrada owns L.L.E. Construction LLC, which is based in Bridgeport and formed in 2008.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, in February 2018, Estrada and his company entered into a written contract to perform roof repairs and other construction services on Main Street in Bridgeport. He was given $11,000 in checks to do the work.
In March 2018, a compliance officer with OSHA observed safety infractions by construction workers involved in the project, according to prosecutors.
Estrada was not there at the time, but spoke to the officer on the phone.
OSHA later served Estrada with a subpoena seeking documents and records related to his company’s work at the site.
According to federal prosecutors, in July 2018, Estrada hand-delivered a written response stating that he “did not do any work for the ‘LLE Roofing Project,’” that “[t]here is no payroll because [he] did not work on the ‘LLE Roofing Project,’” and that he “do[es] not have any contract or any documents regarding the ‘LLE Roofing Project.’”
When pleading guilty last year, Estrada admitted lying in his written statement and in a subsequent deposition.
Contact Michelle Tuccitto Sullo at msullo@newhavenbiz.com.
