East Freetown Company to Plead Guilty in Worker’s 2023 Death

BOSTON (WBSM) — An East Freetown company has agreed to plead guilty to violating safety standards in a 2023 incident that led to a worker’s death.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, John Oliveira & Sons Stamps Concrete, Inc. has been charged and agreed to plead guilty to willfully violating an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) safety standard.

The worker killed was identified by the New Bedford Light as Josué Tiquiram, 24, who had immigrated from Guatemala only 18 months before his death. According to his obituary, his full name was Josué Tiquiram Sam, and he also went by the name Sam Jackson.

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Tiquiram was killed when the tail conveyor on a large soil screener unexpectedly closed on him while he was attempting to remove a bolt from it. The soil screener was about 46 feet long and 13 feet high, weighing about 1,500 pounds. Tiquiram suffered massive head trauma and was pronounced deceased soon after the incident.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleged that the soil screener had unexpectedly closed numerous times previously in 2022 or 2023, and that the machine had suffered a ruptured hydraulic pressure line.

The willful violation of an OSHA safety standard could lead to up to five years of probation, a fine of up to $500,000, and restitution payable to Tiquiram’s estate.