Bednar Landscape Services officials pleaded guilty to criminal charges of failing to properly shore up a trench that caved in, suffocating two laborers, the Daily Record reports.
Earlier this month, more than three years after the Boonton, N.J.-based company’s workers Oscar Portillo and Selvin Zelaya were killed, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office filed criminal charges against the company, President Keith Bednar and Corporate Secretary Christopher Liberatore.
The charge against the company and the two individuals is a fourth-degree offense, punishable upon conviction by up to 18 months in prison. According the article, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office will not seek jail time against the corporate officers, but will recommend a punishment of a $50,000 fine, which will be disbursed to the five children Portillo and Zelaya had.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration already fined the company $77,000, following an investigation to the incident.
Portillo and Zelaya were installing a French drain system, working in a trench between 9 and 13 feet deep, which had no cave-in protection, OSHA determined. OSHA requires all trenches and excavation sites 5 feet or deeper be protected against sidewall collapses. As a result, Bednar Landscape Services was found responsible for one willful and nine serious safety violations.
