Roofing manager got license despite conviction

By Susan Salisbury

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

WEST PALM BEACH Rene Jaimes, general manager of Skyhigh Siding & Roofing, holds a state license to perform roofing services, according to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.

That license was granted despite a felony conviction in federal court in Texas that Jaimes did not disclose on his Florida application, according to public records in Florida and Texas obtained by The Palm Beach Post.

In 2005, when Jaimes filled out a roofing contractor's application, he checked "No" to the question that asked about criminal convictions, a copy of the application provided by DBPR shows .

"Have you ever been convicted of a crime, found guilty, or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere (no contest) to a crime, even if you received a withholding of adjudication?" the application asks.

Failure to answer the question accurately may result in the denial or revocation of a license, according to the application.

Documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas show that Jaimes' response should have been "yes." In 1994, Jaimes pleaded guilty to encouraging unlawful residence of an illegal alien in the United States, according to federal court records. Jaimes was sentenced to nine months in prison and ordered to serve three years of probation, which ended on July 13, 1998.

When asked why he did not disclose the Texas conviction on his Florida application, Jaimes said he would ask his attorney Robert Lewis to respond.

"Why are you picking on me?" Jaimes asked.

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Roofing manager got license despite conviction