Retrial Set for Landscaper Accused of Ripping off Insurers

A Nov. 17 retrial date was confirmed for a Thousand Palms landscaping company owner accused of cheating insurance companies out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by manipulating documents to reduce his workers’ compensation premiums.

Jesse Garcia Contreras, 59, could face up to 12 years in prison if convicted of six counts of insurance fraud.

A Riverside jury in July deadlocked on a technicality concerning whether the statute of limitations still applied to most of the allegations. The jurors did not deliberate on the actual evidence presented following several weeks of testimony.

During a status hearing today at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Becky Dugan scheduled retrial proceedings to get underway in mid-November, after the prosecution and defense agreed to be prepared to move forward at that time.

Contreras is free on a $100,000 bond.

The District Attorney’s Office alleges that the defendant bilked four insurance companies out of more than $500,000. The defense has argued the prosecution’s case was founded on misunderstandings and confusion over business practices.

Deputy District Attorney Frank Donzanti alleged that from 2008 to 2013, Contreras, co-founder of Sunshine Landscape, intentionally misclassified his workforce to conceal how many tree trimmers he had in the field.

According to the prosecution, the defendant altered human resources codes to make it appear as though he was mainly employing gardeners rather than tree trimmers, who require greater insurance coverage because they work on ladders.

Holding down overhead by re-designating workers afforded Contreras the opportunity to “outbid other landscapers (who were) playing by the rules,” assuring Sunshine Landscape would get lucrative contracts from Coachella Valley homeowners’ associations, Donzanti alleged.

The defense countered that Contreras was in charge of “field operations” and focused exclusively on pitching clients to secure contracts, leaving administration to others in the business.

“Just because you’ve studied enough to become an arborist, that doesn’t mean you know about which forms to fill out,” defense attorney Virginia Blumenthal said.

--City News Service, photo via Shutterstock