Following Investigation into Workers’ Deaths, Company, its Owner and an Employee Charged with Perjury

No criminal charges in connection with the tragic deaths of Jordy Alexander Castaneda Romero and Juan Carlos Figueroa Gutierrez

BOSTON, November 30, 2021—District Attorney Rachael Rollins announced today that Atlantic Coast Utilities and two individuals affiliated with the company have been indicted for perjury for allegedly lying on Mattocks-Higgins Affidavits of Workplace Safety submitted with the City of Boston. These affidavits were on file when Atlantic Coast Utilities secured permits to conduct work on High Street in Boston, where two of its employees – Jordy Alexander Castaneda Romero and Juan Carlos Figueroa Gutierrez – were killed when they were struck by a company vehicle on February 24, 2021.

Last week, a Suffolk County grand jury returned indictments charging ATLANTIC COAST UTILITIES with four counts of perjury; company owner LAURENCE MOLONEY, 57, of Quincy with three counts of perjury; and KONSTANTINOS KOLLIAS, 35, of Newton, an employee of the company, with one count of perjury.  They are expected to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court on December 1, 2021.

Assistant District Attorney Lynn Feigenbaum, a Chief of District Attorney Rollins’ Major Felony Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Jillian Bannister of the Major Felony Bureau led the grand jury proceedings that resulted in these indictments, which were returned Tuesday, November 23, 2021.

Prosecutors allege that Mr. Moloney and Mr. Kollias each made false statements in affidavits that must be on file with the City of Boston to secure permits on behalf of Atlantic Coast Utilities.  On four occasions, the company submitted Mattocks-Higgins Affidavits of Workplace Safety under the pains and penalties of perjury stating the company had no prior OSHA citations, when in fact the company had been issued citations by the workplace safety agency on September 8, 2016, and again on June 3, 2019. 

City records indicate that Mr. Moloney allegedly submitted the falsified affidavits on Atlantic Coast Utilities’ behalf on March 20, 2019, August 6, 2019, and December 1, 2020.  Mr. Kollias is accused of submitting a falsified affidavit for the company on October 7, 2019.

These actions came to light amid an investigation into the deaths of Mr. Castaneda Romero, 27, and Mr. Figueroa Gutierrez, 33, on High Street in Boston at an Atlantic Coast Utilities worksite on February 24, 2021.  The men were killed when they were struck by a Ford F750 dump truck and knocked into a nine-foot deep trench.  In August, OSHA issued multiple civil citations against the company as a result of the fatal accident in February. Evidence gathered during the course of a lengthy investigation by the Boston Police Department and the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office determined the driver of the dump truck was not criminally liable for the men’s tragic deaths.  On November 18, 2021, Suffolk prosecutors informed the victims’ families of those findings.

A city ordinance requiring the workplace safety affidavits was passed with the goal of preventing worksite injuries and deaths in the aftermath of the October 21, 2016, fatal trench collapse at an excavation site in the South End operated by Atlantic Drain Services Company.[1]  The preventable collapse claimed the lives of Robert Higgins and Kelvin Mattocks.  Suffolk prosecutors secured manslaughter convictions against the company and its owner and sole officer, KEVIN OTTO, in 2019.  Evidence presented during a jury-waived trial in the case proved that Mr. Otto and Atlantic Drain Services Company knowingly and willfully placed the victims in extreme danger by failing to utilize cave-in protection and that Mr. Otto lied and produced false documentation to investigators in the wake of the men’s deaths.

Additional information in the case against Atlantic Coast Utilities, Mr. Moloney and Mr. Kollias will be made available at arraignment tomorrow.  Jillian Rose and Edith Ayuso are the victim-witness advocates assigned to the investigation into the deaths of Mr. Castaneda Romero and Mr. Figueroa Gutierrez. 

All charged individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins’ office serves the communities of Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop, Mass. The office handles over 20,000 cases a year. More than 160 attorneys in the office practice in nine district and municipal courts, Suffolk Superior Court, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, the Supreme Judicial Court, and the Boston Juvenile Courts. The office employs some 300 people and offers a wide range of services and programs to serve anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system. This office is committed to educating the public about the services we provide, our commitment to crime prevention, and our dedication to keeping the residents of Suffolk County safe.

[1] Atlantic Drain Services Company is not affiliated with Atlantic Coast Utilities.