Man Admits to Assault, Lies to Win Job Contract

A San Pedro man pleaded guilty Wednesday to submitting phony air samples and false worker training certificates on a contract to remove dangerous asbestos fibers at a Long Beach hospital and to partially blinding his brother-in-law, who threatened to go to authorities.

As his brother-in-law sat quietly in the back of the Los Angeles federal courtroom, Curtis Mark Nelson, 26, admitted that he poked one of his eyes during a fight over the asbestos contract.

‘Extremely Remorseful’

Nelson’s attorney, Jan Lawrence Handzlik, said the assault occurred “in the heat of a mutual combat situation” for which Nelson is “extremely remorseful.”

Nelson and his brother-in-law, Donald Davis, “were very close friends, and they remain very close friends today,” Handzlik said. “Mr. Davis bears no ill will for this unfortunate accident.”

Nelson has agreed to testify against Thomas and Helen Garbett, owners of the New York firm that obtained a contract to remove hazardous asbestos insulation from the Veterans Administration Hospital in Long Beach in 1983.

Grand Jury Indictment

According to a federal grand jury indictment, the company used untrained workers, paid them rates well below those required under federal law and submitted false air samples to disguise the fact that there were dangerous levels of asbestos fibers at the work site.

Nelson pleaded guilty on each of those counts and on an additional charge of assault resulting in severe bodily injury. He faces a maximum of 25 years in prison and has agreed to pay $31,000 fines and an unspecified amount of restitution to Davis, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. David Katz, who is prosecuting the case.