New Rochelle Contractor Stole $30K In Wages From Day Laborers

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — A Westchester contractor has been convicted and sentenced for not paying workers. The DA’s Office Economic Crimes Bureau secured full restitution for eight victims.

Westchester County District Attorney Miriam E. Rocah announced on Wednesday that a New Rochelle contractor, who owned and operated Fuerte Construction LLC, was convicted on eight misdemeanor counts of wage theft and sentenced to three years of probation and a $12,000 fine for failing to pay more than $31,500 to eight workers he employed between 2020 and 2023 as painters, carpenters and laborers.

"Not paying workers for months on end is a crime and not a business model," Rocah said on Wednesday. "We will continue to hold employers who commit wage theft accountable and that includes securing from them the full amount of backpay owed to workers. Additionally, I applaud the October 2023 law enacted by the state legislature that expands wage theft greater than $1,000 to be charged as a felony. This will aid in preventing and combating this pernicious problem that has dire consequences for working families and communities."

The crimes came to light when the workers turned to Catholic Charities, United Community Center of Westchester, Inc. and the Don Bosco Workers, Inc. for assistance.

"Today we applaud the District Attorney and the criminal justice system for sending a strong message to contractors and others that any effort to defraud day laborers will not be tolerated," the groups said in a joint statement. "We brought this issue to the District Attorney in May of 2023 because we had heard from workers that Fuerte was refusing to pay them and defrauding them. We appreciate how quickly the DA team investigated the issue, and the swift action that they took with other members of the law enforcement community. We also applaud the day laborers who were willing to work with the DA and others to expose this illegal activity."

Artemio Fuerte, 38, of New Rochelle, was sentenced on Wednesday in New Rochelle City Court, following his guilty pleas on May 1, to six counts of failure to pay wages and again on June 7, to two additional counts of failure to pay wages.

Fuerte's sentence includes a $1,500 fine on each of the eight counts totaling $12,000 to be paid through probation, which will run concurrent on all three of his cases. As part of his plea agreement, he paid full restitution in the amount of $31,583 to the eight victims prior to sentencing.

The Economic Crimes Bureau of the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office launched an investigation into Fuerte and his business in 2022 after complaints were filed by individuals who did not get paid working for Fuerte.

The DA’s Office Criminal Investigators Squad arrested Fuerte on May 23, 2022 for failing to pay four workers a total of $21,150 between December 2020 and November 2021. Investigators arrested him a second time on Oct. 14, 2022 for failing to pay two additional workers a total of $2,370 between March and August 2022, and arrested him, a third time, on Jan. 30, 2024 for failing to pay two additional workers a total of $8,063 between November 2022 and February 2023.

Rocah thanked the workers' rights advocates St. John Bosco Parish-Don Bosco Workers in Port Chester, Catholic Charities Community Services-Archdiocese of New York in Yonkers, and United Community Center of Westchester in New Rochelle for assisting the victims with filing complaints with the DA's Office.

Victims and witnesses of wage theft and labor fraud, regardless of immigration status or language, can file a complaint directly with the DA’s Office at 914-995-TIPS (8477) or online here.