Florida Contractor in Fatal Fall Incident Sentenced for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Florida Contractor in Fatal Fall Incident Sentenced for Workers’ Comp Fraud 2025
A Florida framing contractor has been sentenced to 48 months in prison and millions of dollars in fines and restitution after he failed to obtain workers’ compensation insurance and ignored safety practices, leading to deadly consequences.
Despite six previous citations by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Manuel Domingos Pita, of Wesley Chapel, did not provide fall protection gear to workers on roofs. In 2020, one worker installing roof decking on a windy day was blown off the roof and was killed, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tampa said in a bulletin.
Pita pleaded guilty in 2024 to willful violation of workplace stands and to fraud. He also admitted cheating insurance carriers out of more than $22 million in workers’ compensation premiums, prosecutors said. He consistently underreported payroll when purchasing comp coverage. The man also failed to pay more than $33 million in federal taxes on workers’ wages.
“The defendant in this case engaged in a deliberate scheme to defraud insurance companies, the government and evade taxes, resulting in huge losses to the U.S. Treasury, and to personally enrich himself,” said Sara Sweeney, acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida.
Pita owned Domingos 54 Construction, a subcontractor that framed new homes in the Tampa area. In 2019, OSHA investigators cited the company repeatedly for failing to provide fall protection for workers on roofs of homes under construction, prosecutors said. But Pita continued to ignore the safety requirements and did not pay the fines, court documents show.
“Mr. Pita repeatedly violated the longstanding policies designed to protect the workforce, which resulted in a tragic death,” said Matthew Fodor, special agent in vharge of the FBI’s Tampa Field Office.
Pita was indicted on fraud charges in 2022. He signed a consent order in January of this year, settling the OSHA legal action and agreeing to pay the penalties, plus interest. In a plea agreement, he pledged to forfeit more than $5 million in assets and to pay some $55 million in restitution.
The insurance carriers and the killed worker were not named in court documents.
Photo: Adobe Stock images.
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