NEW YORK, NY – A New York City construction company and that company’s foreman have been convicted after a worker was killed at a Brooklyn job site due to their negligence.
In connection with an excavation wall collapse that resulted in the death of a construction worker, Luis Almonte Sanchez, buried under thousands of pounds of debris, the owner of a Sunset Park construction company was convicted at trial of criminally negligent homicide, tax fraud, and other charges, while a foreperson at the site was convicted of criminal mischief.
As identified by the District Attorney, the defendants are Jiaxi “Jimmy” Liu, 49, and Wilson Garcia Jr., 48, both of Staten Island. Liu was found guilty today after a non-jury trial of criminally negligent homicide, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, fraudulent practices in violation of worker’s compensation laws, fourth-degree city criminal tax fraud, and related counts, while Garcia was found guilty of fourth-degree criminal mischief. At their sentencing on April 26, 2023, Liu faces a maximum sentence of eight to sixteen years in prison and Garcia faces a maximum sentence of one year in jail. Two codefendants previously entered guilty pleas: Jia Rong “Tommy” Liu, 52, of Brooklyn, to petit larceny, and Cindy Chai, 45, of Staten Island, to tax fraud.
The District Attorney stated that, according to the evidence, construction workers employed by WSC Group Inc., owned by Liu, performed demolition, excavation, and foundation work at a construction site at 714 39th Street in Sunset Park between April and September 2018. A one-story industrial building was removed and replaced with a four-story manufacturing and community facility, as well as an underground garage approximately nine feet below the first floor.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “Today’s verdict should send a strong message that when contractors cut corners and put their workers’ safety at risk – they will face serious and criminal repercussions. The death of Luis Almonte Sanchez was a preventable tragedy that would have been avoided if the operator of the construction site followed all safety protocols or heeded warnings about unsafe conditions.”
Although workers and adjacent property owners were warned of dangerous conditions on the site, Liu refused to stop working there. Approximately 2 p.m. on September 12, 2018, a section of a support of excavation system (SOE) and an existing masonry wall – adjacent to residential apartment buildings – collapsed, trapping a construction worker conducting foundation work in the vicinity. The worker was Luis Almonte Sanchez, 47, an employee of the WSC Group, who was struck by a section of underpinning pins that weighed well over 15,000 pounds and was buried under collapsing debris. Due to unstable conditions at the site, which were further exacerbated by significant rainfall, first responders were unable to recover Sanchez’s body until the following day.
According to the District Attorney, Liu managed WSC Group, the company hired to perform the excavation work, and he was responsible for instructing the foreperson and workers. A competent person, Garcia served as foreperson and identified hazards on site and took immediate action to correct them.
Commissioner Strauber said, “A worker was needlessly crushed to death by tons of debris because a construction company operator responsible for the construction site chose to ignore basic safety protocols and repeated warnings about the dangers at the site. Today’s conviction, along with the convictions of other defendants in this case, delivers the strong message that failure to follow construction safety laws has serious consequences. DOI thanks the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, the City Buildings Department and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration for their partnership on this important investigation and successful prosecution.”
According to the evidence, the defendants were obligated by law to ensure that the construction site was in compliance with regulations promulgated by the DOB and Occupational Safety and Health Administration to ensure the safety of the work site. Nevertheless, the defendants failed to follow the design plans that were submitted and approved by the DOB and, in fact, the site was in non-compliance. The company obtained new plans, which were not submitted to the Department of Buildings (DOB), but ultimately did not follow any plans, leading to hazardous conditions at the construction site. Among these issues were that the underpinning system was not installed properly and that safe bracing procedures were not followed.
Liu was also informed, prior to September 12, 2018, of a number of potentially dangerous conditions, including that the rear wall was moving forward and that some support was needed to stop the movement of the wall. A resident living directly adjacent to the rear wall informed him that her garage and patio had collapsed. However, despite those warnings, Liu did not instruct the workers to install additional bracing and did not halt work at the site in order to assess or remedy the situation. He did not even inform the Department of Buildings of the problem.
A trucking company continued to remove truckloads of dirt during a heavy rainstorm in the days prior to the collapse, further destabilizing the site and contributing to the fatal collapse as a result of his order that workers continue to work on the underpinning at the rear of the site.
In addition, WSC defrauded the New York State Insurance Fund by making false statements about who it was employing, and also committed tax fraud by failing to file taxes between 2015 and 2018.