Twenty years of consumer complaints caught up with
Esteban Casillas in September 2004 when he received a 16-month jail sentence
and was ordered to pay $57,316 in restitution to the San Diego County
homeowners he victimized. Casillas learned the hard way that each subsequent
conviction for contracting without a license often carries a more severe
punishment than the one before.
Throughout the years, Casillas has misrepresented his
brother's license number to get landscape contracts. He would typically take
money from his victims and perform minimal or no work before abandoning the
projects. Casillas was first cited by CSLB enforcement staff in 1985. Then,
between 1990 and 2002, the Board referred 14 subsequent investigations to
local prosecutors for various violations, including contracting without a
license and fraudulent use of a license number.
Despite his previous citations and criminal conviction,
Casillas continued his illegal contracting activities. In May 2000, he pled
guilty to contracting without a license and was sentenced to 180 days in
jail and five years probation. Casillas was also ordered to pay fines and
restitution. Three months later in a different court, he pled guilty to
fraudulent use of a license number and was sentenced to additional jail time
and ordered to pay additional fines and restitution.
In 2004, two more complaints were filed against
Casillas for contracting without a license and felony diversion of
construction funds. He pled guilty in September 2004. This time, probation
was not even offered Casillas was immediately sent to serve a 16-month
prison sentence and ordered to pay his victims $57,316 in restitution.
