I read with interest your story "Tutor Perini OKs CEO's Stock Sale." This could not be further from the truth.

The entire story focuses on the removal of restrictions on my stock as if it were all about the sale of the balance of my interests in Tutor Perini [as opposed to] the manner in which the action was [intended, which was] to remove the restrictions so that if I chose to, I could pledge stock for loans, I could use the stock as an asset, or [I could] pledge it for whatever business reasons I needed to. However, at no time in the discussions with the board nor with any third party has it ever been intimated that my request to remove the restrictions was so I could sell the stock.

Whether or not I make a minor sale as may be required by my personal portfolio, my intent has been and will continue to be to hold the stock unless something occurs that requires its sale. Too much has been made of this removal of restriction, and it should not be characterized as an "OK of the CEO's stock sale."

Ronald N. Tutor

Chairman and CEO,Tutor Perini, Sylmar, Calif.