Man, 85, Sentenced, Fined For Failure To Pay $280K To Workers: DA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — An 85-year-old Holbrook man was sentenced Wednesday for failing to pay more than $280,000 in benefits to laborers on public works projects, Suffolk County District Attorney Tim Sini said.

Frederick Hutzler and his company, Triple H Concrete Corp., located in Ronkonkoma, each pleaded guilty on Aug. 4 to fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony, Sini said.

Hutzler was sentenced by Suffolk County Acting Supreme Court Justice Karen Kerr to five years of probation and is required to pay $35,000 in restitution to the General Building Laborers Local 66 Trust Fund, Sini said.

In addition, Hutzler and Triple H received a judgment order for $210,908.74 in restitution; Triple H was also sentenced on Aug. 4 to a $10,000 fine, Sini said.

Hutzler’s son, Edwin Hutzler, 57, of Bellport, a co-owner of Triple H Concrete Corp., pleaded guilty on Aug. 4 to second-degree perjury, a misdemeanor, in connection with the scheme and is required to pay $35,000 in restitution to the General Building Laborers Local 66 Trust Fund, Sini said.

The pair also each paid $35,000 in up-front restitution to the General Building Laborers Local 66 Trust Fund prior to their guilty pleas, Sini said.

From Jan. 1, 2013, through Dec. 31, 2015, Triple H Concrete Corp. employed 23 members of General Building Laborers Local 66 on several public works construction projects in Suffolk County and was required by law to provide hourly supplemental benefits to those workers, Sini said.

The defendants failed to remit $280,908.74 in supplemental benefits to the General Building Laborers Local 66 Trust Fund on behalf of the employees, Sini said.

Also, on Aug. 16, 2016, Edwin Hutzler signed a certified payroll submitted on a public works project at the Pulaski Street Elementary School in Riverhead which he knew contained false information, Sini said.

As a result of the felony convictions, Frederick Hutzler and Triple H Concrete Corp. are prohibited from bidding on public works projects for five years, Sini said.

Frederick Hutzler and Triple H Concrete Corp. were represented by Kenneth C. Murphy; Edwin Hutzler is being represented by Scott Druker and will be sentenced at a later date, Sini said.

Murphy and Drutzler did not immediately return requests for comment.

“Workers deserve to be paid what they’re owed for the work they do; it’s that simple,” District Attorney Sini said. “It is illegal – and frankly immoral – for a company to steal those funds and turn a profit off the backs of workers."