BOSTON — John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete, Inc., a corporation which operates out of East Freetown, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston to willfully violating Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety standards in connection with a 2023 incident that resulted in a worker’s death.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, after the company pleaded guilty during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Boston on Feb. 4, 2026, U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Levenson scheduled sentencing for May 4, 2026.
According to court documents, the company used a large soil screener to process and screen soil and similar materials. The soil screener was about 46 feet long, 13 feet high and weighed about 35,880 pounds. Its tail conveyor, which weighed about 1,500 pounds, could be positioned vertically in a closed position or opened to about a 45-degree angle. Prosecutors said the tail conveyor had closed unexpectedly on multiple occasions in 2022 or 2023 and that the soil screener had previously experienced a ruptured hydraulic pressure line.
On Sept. 6, 2023, an employee was working alongside a co-owner on the tail conveyor while it was in the open position. Court records state there was no equipment in place to prevent the tail conveyor from closing. According to the charging documents, as the employee attempted to remove a bolt, the tail conveyor closed unexpectedly. The employee held onto the upper frame of the soil screener as the tail conveyor moved into the vertical position, and crushed the man’s hand. The employee also suffered severe head trauma and was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, for willfully violating an OSHA safety standard, John Oliveira & Sons Stamp Concrete, Inc. faces up to five years of probation, a fine of up to $500,000, and restitution payable to the estate of the deceased victim.
The case was announced by U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley and Department of Labor officials, including Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito and OSHA Boston Regional Administrator Jeff Erskine. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William F. Abely, chief of the Criminal Division.