A gaggle of males who marketed work on-line in Pacific Palisades and collectively bid as much as $1.27 million for development tasks within the fire-ravaged neighborhood now face potential penalties for allegedly working with out correct contractor’s licenses, authorities mentioned.
Luis Perez Silva, 45; Antonio Herman Perez, 44; Santiago Ismael Mejia Urena, 44; Jecil Cruz-Herrera, 33; Raymond Joshua Castorena, 33; and Luis Mateo Perez Lopez, 27, allegedly started to advertise their providers following the devastating 2025 Palisades hearth, the Los Angeles County district legal professional’s workplace mentioned in an announcement Thursday.
It was not instantly clear whether or not the lads had labored collectively or operated individually.
In April, authorities say investigators with the California’s Contractors State License Board’s Statewide Investigative Fraud Staff found on-line ads providing development providers that didn’t listing a contractor license quantity. They then arrange separate appointments, posing as shoppers searching for construct and demolition work for an adjunct dwelling unit at a Pacific Palisades property.
Upon evaluation, investigators discovered that the lads they met with had been unlicensed and had no pending purposes with the state board. Collectively, the lads positioned unlawful bids totaling as much as $1.27 million for the work, authorities alleged.
“Hiring an unlicensed contractor is rarely a very good deal, leaving you prone to unlawful down funds, fraud, unsafe development and an incapability to promote your property down the road,” mentioned L.A. County Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman. “That is additionally a difficulty of labor justice.”
5 of the lads resist three years in jail and/or fines of as much as $10,000, prosecutors mentioned, whereas Castorena faces as much as six years in jail and/or fines of as much as $10,000 as a consequence of a previous strike offense.
Castorena, Mejia Urena and Perez Lopez pleaded not responsible June 26, and a preliminary listening to setting is scheduled for Aug. 5.
Arraignment for Cruz-Herrera, Perez and Silva is about for July 8.
