Foreman in Fatal NYC Trench Collapse Gets Jail Sentence

Project contractor was found guilty of manslaughter in June, but is appealing that ruling.

Wilmer Cueva, a construction foreman for Queens, N.Y.-based excavation subcontractor Sky Materials, was sentenced on Dec. 15 to up to three years in prison for causing the death of 22-year-old worker Carlos Moncayo, and endangering other workers at a lower Manhattan retail project site. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance said the workers were in an unprotected 13-ft trench that collapsed in 2015.

Cueva was convicted Nov. 4 of criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment. It was proven at trial that he was an on-site foreman responsible for ongoing project excavation work, Vance said. Inspectors repeatedly warned that the trench was unsafe on the day of the collapse, Vance said.

According to media reports, project general contractor Harco Construction LLC was found guilty of manslaughter and other charges last June but declined to admit responsibility and is appealing the judge's ruling; Sky Materials is set for trial in January.

Mary B. Powers has reported on engineering and construction issues in the global energy and environmental sectors for more than 30 years from Washington, D.C. and Birmingham, Ala. She formerly wrote for the Platt's group of energy sector publications under McGraw Hill and S&P Global that included Inside Energy and Megawatt Daily, and was state editor for the Lexington, Ky., Herald Leader. Mary has a master’s degree in journalism from The American University.

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