PATCHOGUE, N.Y. — A Long Island construction supervisor has been sentenced to one year in prison for attempting to obstruct a federal investigation into a fatal worksite accident, federal officials announced.
Richard Zagger, 58, of Blue Point, was sentenced to 12 months in prison and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of official proceedings stemming from a construction site death in East Patchogue.
Zagger was supervising employees of Northridge Construction Corporation as they assembled a metal shed on company property when one worker fell from the roof and died. The roof had not been properly secured at the time of the accident, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Following the incident, OSHA identified multiple safety violations, including the failure to ensure the structural stability of the shed during assembly. Investigators later found that Zagger conspired with others to make false statements in an effort to hinder OSHA’s probe into the accident.
Northridge Construction Corporation was previously fined $100,000 and sentenced to five years of probation for violating worker safety standards that led to the death and for making false statements during the investigation.
“This case reflects our commitment to hold individuals accountable when they compromise worker safety and obstruct investigations,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.
The court did not release the name of the deceased employee.