Prison sentence for pair that used untrained staff to remove deadly asbestos.
A Parlin businessman was sentenced to state prison for unlawfully removing asbestos without a license from the former Zurbrugg Memorial Hospital in Riverside, using workers who were not trained or equipped to do the job safely, Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman said Friday in a statement.
Frank J. Rizzo, 57, was sentenced Friday to three years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Philip E. Haines in Burlington County. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 30, 2014, to a charge of second-degree conspiracy.
Rizzo’s co-defendant, Michael Kouvaras, 62, of Maplewood, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge James W. Palmer Jr. on Aug. 25, 2014, to 364 days in county jail as a condition of a term of three years’ probation. Kouvaras pleaded guilty on Jan. 30, 2014, to a third-degree charge of violating the Asbestos Control and Licensing Act, the statement said.
Deputy Attorney General Mary Erin McAnally prosecuted the defendants and handled the sentencing hearings for the Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau.
In pleading guilty, the defendants admitted that, through the company they ran, Deuteron Capital LLC, doing business as South Street Fillit Recycling of Riverside, they illegally removed asbestos without a license and illegally disposed of asbestos at the Zurbrugg Memorial Hospital site, the statement said.
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