Ezekiel Lopez is a registered child sexual predator in Illinois who spent more than three years in prison for sexually abusing two teenage girls under his care in Rolling Meadows.
But the conviction didn’t keep Lopez, 49, from getting more than $700,000 in federal contracts to provide cleaning and janitorial services to help fight COVID-19 at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital south of Maywood.
Government contractors are supposed to indicate on their applications whether they’ve had any felony convictions in the past two years. But Lopez was convicted in 2007.
And the federal government can ban vendors convicted of fraud or other procurement violations from future contracts, usually for up to three years. But that doesn’t include sex crimes.
So neither Lopez nor his America’s Best at Work appeared on any list of parties excluded from federal Department of Veterans Affairs contracting.
VA spokeswoman Christina Noel said the company met the criteria to be a vendor under federal law, which include being deemed “responsible” through its registration with what’s called the System for Award Management. The business also was in good standing according to the U.S. government’s database for “performance and integrity.”
But days after USA Today asked the federal agency about Lopez’s background, the VA ended ended its relationship with the business as of July 23.
Candace Oliva, a health systems specialist for the west suburban hospital’s director, said “nothing questionable” turned up in a background check of the company going back two years.
But “after discovering this particular issue, Hines VA Hospital terminated its relationship with the contractor,” Oliva said.
Lopez didn’t respond to calls and emails seeking comment.
Ezekiel Lopez as he appears on the Illinois Sex Offender website, which labels him a sexual predator.
Illinois State Police
He received preferences on all of his contracts because his business is considered small and is owned by a veteran and Native American.
The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act prohibits federal contractors from requesting criminal histories from candidates until a conditional job offer has been extended, and civil rights laws ban discrimination against applicants for having a criminal record.
Illinois state regulations bar sex offenders from working in more than 100 professions that require a license or are off-limits to felons, including health care providers.
“You don’t land on the [excluded] list for a sex crime,” said Charles Tiefer, a University of Baltimore professor who specializes in federal procurement. “People can just turn right around and do this. The federal government says, ‘We’re open for business — come on in.’ ”
Lopez is registered as a child sexual predator with Illinois State Police, required to identify his current address online anytime he moves so neighbors and anyone else can know of his past.
Rolling Meadows police records show a teenage girl came to authorities in 2006 with accusations that Lopez sexually abused her. The girl told investigators that one night around midnight the previous August, Lopez entered her room, said he was doing laundry and made her remove her clothes. The girl fell asleep and awoke 30 minutes later to Lopez having intercourse with her, according to a police report.
Lopez went on to molest the girl at least two more times, she told authorities.
Another teenager sleeping in the home’s basement came forward with similar accusations.
That year, prosecutors say, Lopez admitted having sexual intercourse on several occasions with both girls, telling a prosecutor that it felt “natural” but that he “knew it was wrong.” He eventually said he was sorry.
Lopez was convicted of criminal sexual abuse, sexual assault and sexual assault on a victim between 13 and 17 years old, according to the sex offender registry. He served time in state prison from April 2007 through August 2010 and another two years on parole.
The residence listed for Lopez on the sex offender registry matches the business address used by America’s Best at Work Corp. in federal contract documents. The state corporations database lists Lopez as the company’s president.
Records show Lopez and his business were given more than $700,000 in COVID-19 work from the federal government this year, no-bid deals without any competition from other companies.
The first COVID-19 contract was signed April 8. Through “change orders” and exercised options, the work was to continue through Sept. 30.
After the VA canceled its contract in July, the total obligation dropped to about $443,000, according to the federal data.
The company was responsible for managing general janitorial services at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital. As owner, Lopez managed the crews, and his employees performed the work, according to the VA’s Oliva.
The federal government has spent more than $20 billion in response to COVID-19 in a race to secure supplies and prepare its facilities.
USA Today previously has reported that vendors that had been accused of fraud against the government were handed new COVID-19 orders despite having to pay costly settlements. Other vendors without any experience or qualifications surfaced overnight to profit from the pandemic, many ultimately failing to deliver on their promises.
The pandemic wasn’t the first time Lopez’s company landed federal contracts. America’s Best at Work Corp. was awarded $139,500 in work during the 2014/15 budget year – about three years after Lopez’s release from parole. It went on to get $108,500 worth of federal contracts the following year, about $13,000 in 2016/17 and $57,500 in 2017/18.
The $700,000 in originally awarded coronavirus contracts brought the biggest windfall, federal records show.
Since the company became a federal contractor, it’s been given eight deals in Illinois by the VA, ranging from sourcing dental instruments to providing janitorial services.
Federal agencies like the VA are encouraged to do business with small, disadvantaged companies as well as those owned by veterans as part of an effort to undo past disparities. Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has said he’ll further improve contracting opportunities for minority-owned businesses.
Lopez was enlisted in the Army from 1989 to 1997, according to records from his criminal case. His business also has applied as a certified Indian Preference Firm of the Tohono O’odham Nation in Sells, Arizona, the company’s website says
His military service and the company’s status as Native American-owned gave Lopez a leg up when he put in bids for federal government work under rules designed to help these traditionally disadvantaged groups.
The government focuses its backgrounding efforts on a company’s history, not that of its principals and shareholder, looking at each potential vendor’s financial strength, past performance and perceived ability to meet the specifications of a contract.
That’s especially true for routine services like janitorial work, said Benjamin Brunjes, an assistant professor at the Daniel J. Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington. Brunjes said that even if the principal of a company was under sanction, executives convicted of crimes are still allowed to start new businesses and get new contracts.
“The federal government is worried about performance and financial solvency of its vendors,” Brunjes said, “not the backgrounds of their owners.”
Industry trade groups for janitorial contractors cite best practices that call for their members to background screen employees.
Additional oversight was put in place after the 2015 publication of “Rape on the Night Shift,” an investigation by Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting and its news media partners that found the late nights and weekend hours involved in the commercial janitorial industry created a setting that left workers susceptible to assault.
Aramark, a Philadelphia company that provides facility cleaning, among other services, also requires conditional hires to undergo post-offer, pre-employment screening as part of its hiring process to “ensure customer safety,” a spokesman said. Other large competitors have similar rules.
In Illinois, sex offenders aren’t allowed within 500 feet of any school buildings, they are not allowed in public parks, and those convicted after 2010 were banned from using social media until the Illinois Supreme Court struck down the rule last year.
They are barred from obtaining licenses for health care jobs and some other professions. That means that doctors, nurses and other medical professionals with sex-crime convictions can’t practice in VA hospitals and clinics in Illinois without a special waiver.
Some say those same protections should apply to janitors and other contractors who work in these buildings and could have access to VA employees and patients.
Industry groups have worked to help train certain inmates. And the “ban the box” movement has pushed to give ex-offenders a second chance at meaningful work to help lower crime and prevent recidivism.
But Robert Burton, a Washington, D.C., attorney who was a career procurement official in the White House, said the janitorial contract was an example of a federal acquisition system in need of reform.
“It’s disturbing,” Burton said. “Especially if it’s a small business, you want to look at the business owner and whether they are responsible.”
Read more at USA Today.
