The San Diego District Attorney’s Office is asking anyone in the South Bay who may have been scammed by unlicensed contractor Miguel Neavez to come forward.
Deputy District Attorney Tamara Martin said Neavez did not hold a contractor’s license and has victimized at least 14 people in the Eastlake/Otay Ranch area.
But Martin believes there could be more victims unaccounted for.
“I can’t imagine we got everybody,” she said. “What we would like is to find out if there are any other victims out there of Mr. Neavez and ask them to contact our office. We may be able to help them out whether that’s getting restitution of their money for them or some other fashion.”
Neavez, 43, sold landscape/remodeling jobs in eastern Chula Vista, according to Martin.
She said the law prevents unlicensed contractors from performing contracting work over $499, including both labor and material, but she said Neavez received landscape remodeling jobs between $35,000 and $40,000.
“Many times he received the full contract price and failed to complete the work,” she said. “He would come out and give a bid to a homeowner…He would receive a down payment, and then, he would do some of the work but not all of the work. The job would be substantially unfinished.”
Neavez on Nov. 17 was sentenced to one year in jail with three years’ probation, and ordered to pay about $126,000 in restitution to the 14 victims.
In October, he pleaded guilty to three felonies — one count of grand theft, diversion of construction funds and one count of failure to register as an employer for tax purposes.
Martin said a victim filed a complaint against Neavez to the Contractor State License Board, which oversees licensed contractors. Upon the state’s investigation they found that criminal charges could be handed down to Neavez. The state then forwarded the case to the district attorney’s office who conducted their own investigation and prosecuted Neavez.
“All of the people that are the subject of this complaint live in the general area, so from my understanding they know each other, and they contacted the California State Licensing Board and complained about Mr. Neavez,” Martin said.
Martin said this was not the first run-in Neavez had with prosecutors. She said he was previously caught in a sting and the district attorney prosecuted him for that case, strictly on the fact that he was an unlicensed contractor. Neveaz pled guilty in that case to a misdemeanor contracting without a license charge and a misdemeanor failure to obtain workers’ compensation charge. He did not serve any jail time for those charges and was ordered to pay $1,750 in restitution.
Jesse Navarro, community relations officer with the DA’s office, said the district attorney’s office takes cases against unlicensed contractors seriously.
“This case is an example of a person who was victimizing many, many, many people in South County, but our commitment will continue to protect, inform and educate all of our communities throughout San Diego County,” he said.
