Six Charged in Palisades Fire Zone Contractor Sting
Investigators say the men bid over $1 million on rebuilding work without licenses.
July 10, 2026 · Pacific Palisades
Six men face felony charges for allegedly operating as unlicensed contractors in the Palisades Fire disaster zone, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced this week.
Each defendant was charged June 26 with one felony count of contracting without a license during a natural disaster, following a joint undercover operation by the District Attorney's Bureau of Investigation and the California Contractors State License Board, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Investigators with the license board's Statewide Investigative Fraud Team began reviewing online ads in April that offered construction services without listing a contractor license number, prosecutors said. Posing as clients, they set up appointments at a Pacific Palisades home to bid on an accessory dwelling unit and demolition work. None of the men were licensed or had applications pending, authorities alleged, yet collectively they submitted bids totaling as much as $1.27 million.
The defendants are Luis Perez Silva, 45; Antonio Herman Perez, 44; Santiago Ismael Mejia Urena, 44; Jecil Cruz-Herrera, 33; Raymond Joshua Castorena, 33; and Luis Mateo Perez Lopez, 27. It was not immediately clear whether the men worked together or operated separately.
"Hiring an unlicensed contractor is never a good deal, leaving you at risk of illegal down payments, fraud, unsafe construction and an inability to sell your home down the line," District Attorney Nathan Hochman said. "This is also an issue of labor justice."
Five of the men face up to three years in prison and fines of up to $10,000, prosecutors said, while Castorena faces up to six years due to a prior strike offense. Castorena, Mejia Urena and Perez Lopez pleaded not guilty on June 26 and are scheduled for a preliminary hearing August 5 at the Airport Courthouse. Arraignment for Cruz-Herrera, Perez and Silva is set for July 8.