Monday, February 2, 2026

Alleged Unlicensed Contractors Charged in Eaton Fire Zone Set for Pasadena Hearing Monday

Defendants charged with offering services without licenses in Altadena are among the first prosecuted under felony disaster-zone statute

Three men charged with suspicion of working as unlicensed contractors in the Eaton Fire disaster zone are scheduled to appear Monday in Pasadena Courthouse to have a preliminary hearing date set in their felony cases.

Edgar Geovanni Lopez Revolorio, 42, of Arleta; Guillermo Ramirez, 54, of Pomona; and Melvin Hairon Mejia Ordonez, 41, of Los Angeles are among five defendants charged by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office in December for allegedly offering contractor services without licenses in Altadena. The cases are among the first felony prosecutions targeting contractors accused of preying on fire survivors as they rebuild from the January 2025 blaze that destroyed more than 9,000 structures.

All three defendants pleaded not guilty at their arraignments in December and were released on their own recognizance.

Monday’s proceeding in Department D, scheduled for the courthouse at 300 E. Walnut St., is a preliminary hearing setting—a procedural step to schedule a future hearing at which prosecutors must show sufficient evidence to proceed to trial.

Prosecutors allege Lopez Revolorio and Ramirez contracted without licenses in the Eaton Fire zone on Oct. 8, 2025, and that Mejia Ordonez did so on Oct. 9. The charges were filed Dec. 4 by the DA’s Consumer Protection Division following an operation conducted jointly with the California Contractors State License Board.

Ramirez faces the most serious potential penalty. In addition to the felony count of contracting without a license during a natural disaster, prosecutors allege he has two prior felony convictions, including a strike prior, which could expose him to a maximum sentence of six years in state prison. The other defendants face up to three years imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000 under California Business and Professions Code 7028.16, which makes unlicensed contracting in a declared disaster zone a felony.

“My office is cracking down on criminal contractors who prey on residents who have already lost so much and cannot afford to lose more,” District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said when announcing the charges last December, according to a DA press release.

Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents Altadena in the Fifth District, joined Hochman at the December announcement.

“Rebuilding after the Eaton Fire is hard enough, and no survivor should also have to fear being exploited by unlicensed or unscrupulous contractors,” Barger said, according to the press release.

The court ordered all three defendants not to contract or advertise for construction services without being properly licensed through CSLB while their cases are pending.

Deputy District Attorney Alice Kurs is prosecuting the cases, which remain under investigation by CSLB. The two other defendants charged in December, Andrew Escarzaga, 27, and Daniel Escarzaga, 28, both of Chino, were scheduled for arraignment on Jan. 8.

Residents can verify a contractor’s license at www.cslb.ca.gov or report unlicensed contractors through the same website.

“These folks are not insured,” Hochman alleged at the December news conference, according to NBC Los Angeles. “If something goes wrong during this construction process and you want to go after their insurance, they have no insurance to go after.”