CANOGA PARK : Illegal Contractor Fined, Sentenced

An unlicensed contractor was sentenced to a month in jail and ordered to pay more than $15,000 in restitution after he pleaded no contest Tuesday to charges of working without a license and taking money for earthquake repairs he never completed, authorities said.

Kevin Reid, 41, of Canoga Park is one of 42 unlicensed contractors who have been prosecuted by the Los Angeles city attorney’s office since the Northridge quake, officials said.

Reid, who claimed to be a masonry specialist for Brickmaster, a fictitious business, accepted money from four homeowners for quake repairs and then abandoned the projects without completing them, said Deputy City Atty. Don Cocek, who handled the case.

Cocek said Reid took money from a North Hollywood couple who hired him to replace a chimney, a Woodland Hills woman who hired him to rebuild a block wall, a West Hills man who hired him to repair his chimney and an Encino couple who paid for their chimney and patio deck to be rebuilt.

Reid, who was sentenced in Van Nuys Municipal Court, advertised his services through flyers left on his victims’ front doors that stated the company he worked for--Brickmaster--was licensed and insured, Cocek said.