Ernesto Gonzalez has been a contractor in Yakima for nearly 24 years, and he by no means needed to cope with somebody impersonating him — till final yr.
That’s when two folks referred to as him, every demanding to know why his firm wasn’t doing the work they paid him to do.
It seems that they have been victims of an unregistered contractor — and so was Gonzalez, whose firm identify and enterprise license numbers have been utilized by the person, in line with the state Division of Labor and Industries.
“The one factor he didn’t do was give out the true tackle of the enterprise,” Gonzalez mentioned.
L&I officers mentioned Antonio “Tony” Gonzalez has been cited for utilizing different contractors’ names and identification numbers for jobs he both by no means accomplished and even began.
Ernesto Gonzalez mentioned he had contacted authorities final yr concerning the allegations that Antonio Gonzalez was impersonating his enterprise, however these warning have been ignored.
“The prosecuting legal professional mentioned we didn’t have sufficient proof to prosecute him,” Ernesto Gonzalez mentioned.
Yakima County Prosecuting Legal professional Joe Brusic mentioned his workplace is engaged on the case, however he wants to make sure that he has as a lot proof as potential when he information prices.
L&I officers mentioned that Antonio Gonzalez had 30 civil infractions from July 2021 via January for quite a lot of offenses, together with doing or providing work with out registering, falsely utilizing one other contractor’s registration, and plumbing and electrical violations. Folks from Tri-Cities, Yakima, Seattle, Everett and Olympia have filed complaints, in line with L&I.
Fines for the infractions whole greater than $110,000, an L&I information launch reported.
Virtually all of the victims discovered Antonio Gonzalez via Craigslist, in line with the discharge. In lots of instances, he would give prospects the state registration variety of a authentic contractor and both use that contractor’s firm identify or one prefer it, the discharge mentioned.
He required prospects to place down a 50% deposit on the work carried out, with the verify made out to him personally, L&I mentioned, with prospects paying wherever from $200 to $23,000.
In a single case, a Yakima couple paid $18,000 to have a barn constructed, and Antonio Gonzalez by no means began the work, although the verify was cashed, the discharge mentioned.
The disgruntled prospects would then use the registration quantity to seek out the enterprise and complain to the house owners, with some threatening lawsuits.
Ernesto Gonzalez mentioned he obtained two calls from individuals who claimed they’d paid his firm, Gonzalez and Sons Carpentry, for work that hadn’t been carried out, and asking about his relationship with “Tony Gonzalez.”
“He received aggressive, and I received defensive,” Ernesto Gonzalez mentioned. “He mentioned he paid the man $14,000, and I requested if (he) put the identify of the enterprise on the verify, and he mentioned no, he put (Antonio Gonzalez’s) identify.
“I mentioned, ‘That was your mistake.’”
He had an almost-identical dialog with one other one that mentioned he misplaced $18,000.
Ernesto Gonzalez mentioned he gathered further data and was able to have detectives come and arrest Antonio Gonzalez when he met with him, however he mentioned Brusic’s workplace pulled the plug on the operation, citing a scarcity of proof.
Ernesto Gonzalez mentioned this has not helped the popularity of his enterprise, with folks dragging his and his firm’s identify “via the mud.” And he criticized Brusic for not doing sufficient to cope with it sooner.
Brusic mentioned that when his workplace obtained the studies in December, he didn’t consider that the proof was sturdy sufficient to justify submitting prices and show the case past an affordable doubt.
“We’re working with L&I to maximise the knowledge we are able to obtain to shed mild past an affordable doubt if we file prices,” Brusic mentioned.
He mentioned his workplace is taking the matter severely, however that he’s professionally and ethically certain to make sure that the case is as sturdy as potential, and that his workplace has thought-about all proof.
“Folks have to be affected person with that course of,” Brusic mentioned. “I perceive (Antonio Gonzalez) is regularly and perpetually preying on folks. We’ve got alleged a number of victims in a number of jurisdictions. It’s one thing we’re taking severely.”
He mentioned allegations alone usually are not enough proof to justify a prison cost.
Brusic mentioned as a younger prosecutor he was recommended by then-Prosecuting Legal professional Jeff Sullivan that charging selections needed to be made rigorously, as such actions can simply have an effect on folks’s lives.
