East Islip contractor pleads guilty to stealing more than $90G from customers

An East Islip contractor pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that he stole money customers gave him to lay down hardwood flooring in East End homes, Suffolk officials said.

Leones Martins-Rodrigues, 40, admitted stealing more than $90,000 from a trio of home builders who retained his Smart Flooring business to purchase and install hardwood floors in East Hampton and Southampton houses, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a news release.

Instead of purchasing the building materials, Martins-Rodrigues, who "presented himself as a reputable contractor," used the money "to pay down his own debts," Tierney said in a statement. The builders paid him between May 2022 February 2024. He was arrested on April 8.

He pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted grand larceny before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, according to the district attorney’s office. He is scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 12, 2027.

Luigi Belcastro, Martins-Rodrigues' Central Islip-based defense attorney, did not immediately return a telephone message seeking comment Thursday.

There are multiple violations and complaints filed against Martins-Rodrigues' Smart Flooring, according to Suffolk County online records that track licensed professionals. Martins-Rodrigues had been operating the company without a valid license, according to a May 21 entry in the county's "Wall of Shame."

As of June 1, the registry contained 844 contractors who operated without a license, had their credentials revoked or were convicted of defrauding and stealing from clients.