Contractor Rickey Lynch of Queens agrees to plea in lead-based remediation trial, officials say

A Queens contractor who allegedly performed lead-based paint remediation in a Freeport home without proper certification, resulting in dangerous levels of lead dust throughout the house, accepted a plea deal Wednesday that requires him to plead guilty to making false statements.

Rickey Lynch, 60, of Arverne, entered the plea shortly before the second day of his trial was to begin in Central Islip federal court, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. 

Lynch was the first person charged with violating the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 since the statute was amended in 2016 to include enhanced penalties for conduct that poses risk of death or serious injury, but that charge was dropped as a result of a plea deal with prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York.

Lynch was also charged in a 2021 indictment with making false statements and aggravated identity theft, as well as attempting to obstruct an investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency. He was accused of performing lead-based paint remediation at a Roslyn day care center despite his lack of certification. 

“He said he had a supervisor on site, which was not the case,” said Jonathan Rosenberg, one of Lynch’s attorneys. “The government came to its senses and realized this was not a right prosecution.” 

Lynch faced up to 15 years in prison before the plea agreement.

The false statements charge has a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison, but prosecutors said in court that they would seek a punishment below federal sentencing guidelines. 

Prosecutors said Christopher and Bunlie Voetglen of Freeport hired Lynch’s company, Bright Lights Supreme Cleaning, in 2020 to remediate lead-based paint after a routine physical exam found elevated levels of lead in their 2-year-old son Christopher Jr.’s blood. Lead can lead to severe cognitive problems and other health issues, especially in young children, prosecutors told the jury.

The boy’s pediatrician then reported the levels of lead in his blood to the Nassau County Department of Health, as required. Health department officials inspected the home and found that lead-paint remediation was required, officials said.

The indictment said that the defendant attended a lead-abatement course in 2018 and received an interim lead-abatement supervisor certification, but that it had expired in March 2019. 

Federal regulations require that lead-based paint abatement work be performed and supervised by individuals who have been certified by the EPA. The regulations also establish work practice standards to ensure that lead-based paint removal is done safely. 

Lynch conducted the work himself, despite lacking the proper certification to perform or supervise the work, prosecutors said. He also failed to comply with work practice standards and did not use a HEPA filtration system to contain the spread of toxic dust throughout the home. 

Bunlie Voetglen, who was eight months pregnant when the work was performed in January 2020, testified Monday that the dust was so widespread when she returned home from work one day that she immediately packed up her things and moved to her mother’s home in Brooklyn. 

Rosenberg said Lynch is “delighted” with the plea agreement, which he called “a very big mea culpa” on the part of the government. 

“They decided to make an example of this case, but in the end they realized this was not the right thing to do,” Rosenberg said.