Richland contractor lost his license in May. Then he allegedly took jobs — and never did them

A Richland concrete contractor faces a growing list of charges alleging he operated an unregistered contracting business and took thousands of dollars in down payments for jobs he never started.

Jesse Scott Espinoza, 38, of Jesse’s Custom Concrete, pleaded innocent in Benton County Superior Court in September to two felony second-degree theft charges, according to the Washington Department of Labor and Industries, which investigated the case.

Friday, he was arraigned in Benton County District Court on two gross misdemeanor charges each of unregistered contracting and failing to respond to civil infractions for unregistered contracting.

Espinoza’s outgoing voice mail indicated he was having phone problems. He could not be reached.

The state suspended Espinoza’s business registration in May after he failed to follow through on a L&I payment plan for thousands of dollars in late premiums for workers’ compensation insurance.

Despite the loss of his registration, Espinoza allegedly accepted a $3,000 down payment for a $6,516 job from a Richland couple for concrete work in May.

When he had not begun work by the end of June, the victims requested a refund. They never heard back from him.

Three weeks later later, an L&I inspector documented Espinoza’s workers installing sidewalks in Richland. He was cited for unregistered contracting.

In early June, with his registration still suspended, Espinoza accepted a $2,000 down payment from a Kennewick homeowner for a driveway project.

After Espinoza failed to start the work, he allegedly agreed to return the down payment, but did not do so, according to court documents.

Espinoza also owes L&I more than $6,500 for late workers’ comp insurance premiums and more than $12,000 in fines for the infractions.

State law requires construction contractors to register with L&I, which demands the contractors have a business license, liability insurance and a bond, and meet other requirements.

Contractors can’t legally work or advertise if their registrations are suspended.

By hiring a registered contractor, customers have financial recourse if something goes wrong with the project.

Espinoza’s felony trial is set for Dec. 11 before Superior Court Judge Alex Ekstrom.

This story was originally published October 21, 2017 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Richland contractor lost his license in May. Then he allegedly took jobs — and never did them."