Florida contractor facing trial, lawsuit and state Investigation

The owner of a local construction company, who customers say presents himself as a contractor, is facing trial for a charge of unlicensed contracting activity in one case, and a lawsuit in a second case. The State Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), which regulates the business of licensed contracting, is taking the lead in both cases and has notified a third homeowner that it is investigating that case, which could result in more charges.In the three cases combined, the homeowners claim they paid $120,000 to the owner of Cat 5 Prefab Homes and Cat 5 Home Center for work that was unfinished or never started. The owner is Anson Avery Gallaway. As part of a three-month-long WESH 2 Investigates probe into his current and past business practices, we approached Gallaway, who does not hold a contractor’s license, as he was getting into his truck Sept. 4 in downtown Orlando. Gallaway told WESH 2 Investigates he scheduled a time to meet but never returned calls to confirm the appointment.His company name is on the contract for a pool construction job in Orange County costing $50,276.30 and signed on Jan. 3, 2023.Nearly three years later, homeowner Aliya Brown’s pool is nothing but a concrete shell, surrounded by missing and cracked pool tiles. Rainwater has turned the bottom into algae-covered pond scum, and the water’s surface is covered with frog eggs. She showed us a photo of Gallaway working on her pool and said the workers who showed up were taking orders from him.A spokesperson for a licensed contractor, who pulled the construction permits for the job, claims they were asked to do little or no work once the permits were pulled. Those permits have since expired.Brown says Gallaway never answered a letter sent in August of 2024 by her attorney, which demanded a full refund.“It’s been devastating. In total, I paid him $45,248.68,” Brown said. “I feel that he took advantage of me and the situation and didn’t care.”But Gallaway didn’t want to answer our questions when we met with him on the street, saying, “My attorney said that I shouldn’t; he said that he sent you an email.” WESH 2 Investigates had not received an email from Gallaway’s attorney prior to that point. At that point, Gallaway said he had no comment, got into his truck and drove off. Since that interview, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation notified Brown that it filed “formal charges,” an administrative complaint, against Gallaway for “unlicensed” contracting.In a second local case, the owner of a Deltona home paid Gallaway $40,000 in February 2023 to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on her property, which was never done, according to a DBPR investigation. Gallaway is now criminally charged in Volusia County with a misdemeanor, “engaging in contracting without certification,” for which Gallaway has entered a not guilty plea.WESH 2 Investigates is not identifying the Deltona homeowner, at her request, until Gallaway faces trial.And then there’s the case of Juliette Harrell, who was in tears when she spoke with us, saying, “It’s turning into a complete nightmare, and it’s just sickening that (Gallaway) is continuing to do this.”The Orlando homeowner paid Gallaway $44,500 for an accessory dwelling unit on her property. She says she met him at a workshop and hired him after seeing his social media ads. She said he appeared legitimate, but she admits that she did not research his background, licensing status, or get referrals or endorsements from prior customers.Two years later, no works has been started on the ADU project.A lot of people build accessory dwelling units in their backyards so they can rent them out to generate some income. But that’s not what Harrell was doing. She wanted to create a place for her sister to live.Harrell’s sister, Marie, can’t live on her own, and Harrell wanted her to be close, to take care of her. Harrell added, “Now I have to think about how I spend every dollar, now that I have to care for her for the rest of her life.” Harrell filed an Orlando police report in September, but when an officer reached Gallaway, he blamed the delays on “health reasons” and promised to send Harrell “at least $20,000,” but never did. She’s suing Gallaway in circuit court and just received notice that the DBPR is investigating Gallaway.Harrell added, “It’s just been so traumatizing. I have just lost all trust in contractors.”What shocked all of Gallaway’s customers who spoke with WESH 2 is that Gallaway is a convicted criminal in the U.S. Virgin Islands, arrested in July 2022.In an interview with Patricia Lynn Pryor, Acting Deputy Attorney General in the U.S.V.I. Department of Justice, we asked if “it would be appropriate to describe him as a confessed and convicted fraudster?” Pryor replied, “Absolutely.”According to Gallaway’s U.S.V.I. plea form, he was found “guilty” of taking “money by false pretense.” He was sentenced last July to “probation for five years” and ordered to pay “restitution” of $559,911.51 to 11 victims who paid for but never got homes he was paid to build.In fact, Gallaway was allowed to travel to Florida, so he could work to pay off his crimes, with Pryor adding, “That is what was represented to me and to the court, that he was there (in Florida) working so that he could repay our victims here.”Gallaway’s Virgin Islands attorney, David Cattie, told WESH 2 Investigates, “Mr. Gallaway is in the process of making restitution according to the order of the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, (and) has already paid over $200,000.”As for Gallaway’s central Florida customers, we asked him, “Are you going to give back some of her money?” Gallaway declined to answer.We may learn more at his Volusia County criminal case pre-trial hearing in December. Gallaway’s local attorney in that case, Richard Hornsby, declined comment for our report.If you have done business with contractors and believe they have not fulfilled their contract, you can file a complaint with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and with local law enforcement.

The owner of a local construction company, who customers say presents himself as a contractor, is facing trial for a charge of unlicensed contracting activity in one case, and a lawsuit in a second case.

The State Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), which regulates the business of licensed contracting, is taking the lead in both cases and has notified a third homeowner that it is investigating that case, which could result in more charges.

In the three cases combined, the homeowners claim they paid $120,000 to the owner of Cat 5 Prefab Homes and Cat 5 Home Center for work that was unfinished or never started. The owner is Anson Avery Gallaway.

As part of a three-month-long WESH 2 Investigates probe into his current and past business practices, we approached Gallaway, who does not hold a contractor’s license, as he was getting into his truck Sept. 4 in downtown Orlando.

Gallaway told WESH 2 Investigates he scheduled a time to meet but never returned calls to confirm the appointment.

His company name is on the contract for a pool construction job in Orange County costing $50,276.30 and signed on Jan. 3, 2023.

Nearly three years later, homeowner Aliya Brown’s pool is nothing but a concrete shell, surrounded by missing and cracked pool tiles.

Rainwater has turned the bottom into algae-covered pond scum, and the water’s surface is covered with frog eggs. She showed us a photo of Gallaway working on her pool and said the workers who showed up were taking orders from him.

A spokesperson for a licensed contractor, who pulled the construction permits for the job, claims they were asked to do little or no work once the permits were pulled. Those permits have since expired.

Brown says Gallaway never answered a letter sent in August of 2024 by her attorney, which demanded a full refund.

“It’s been devastating. In total, I paid him $45,248.68,” Brown said. “I feel that he took advantage of me and the situation and didn’t care.”

But Gallaway didn’t want to answer our questions when we met with him on the street, saying, “My attorney said that I shouldn’t; he said that he sent you an email.”

WESH 2 Investigates had not received an email from Gallaway’s attorney prior to that point.

At that point, Gallaway said he had no comment, got into his truck and drove off.

Since that interview, the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation notified Brown that it filed “formal charges,” an administrative complaint, against Gallaway for “unlicensed” contracting.

In a second local case, the owner of a Deltona home paid Gallaway $40,000 in February 2023 to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on her property, which was never done, according to a DBPR investigation.

Gallaway is now criminally charged in Volusia County with a misdemeanor, “engaging in contracting without certification,” for which Gallaway has entered a not guilty plea.

WESH 2 Investigates is not identifying the Deltona homeowner, at her request, until Gallaway faces trial.

And then there’s the case of Juliette Harrell, who was in tears when she spoke with us, saying, “It’s turning into a complete nightmare, and it’s just sickening that (Gallaway) is continuing to do this.”

The Orlando homeowner paid Gallaway $44,500 for an accessory dwelling unit on her property. She says she met him at a workshop and hired him after seeing his social media ads. She said he appeared legitimate, but she admits that she did not research his background, licensing status, or get referrals or endorsements from prior customers.

Two years later, no works has been started on the ADU project.

A lot of people build accessory dwelling units in their backyards so they can rent them out to generate some income. But that’s not what Harrell was doing. She wanted to create a place for her sister to live.

Harrell’s sister, Marie, can’t live on her own, and Harrell wanted her to be close, to take care of her.

Harrell added, “Now I have to think about how I spend every dollar, now that I have to care for her for the rest of her life.”

Harrell filed an Orlando police report in September, but when an officer reached Gallaway, he blamed the delays on “health reasons” and promised to send Harrell “at least $20,000,” but never did.

She’s suing Gallaway in circuit court and just received notice that the DBPR is investigating Gallaway.

Harrell added, “It’s just been so traumatizing. I have just lost all trust in contractors.”

What shocked all of Gallaway’s customers who spoke with WESH 2 is that Gallaway is a convicted criminal in the U.S. Virgin Islands, arrested in July 2022.

In an interview with Patricia Lynn Pryor, Acting Deputy Attorney General in the U.S.V.I. Department of Justice, we asked if “it would be appropriate to describe him as a confessed and convicted fraudster?”

Pryor replied, “Absolutely.”

According to Gallaway’s U.S.V.I. plea form, he was found “guilty” of taking “money by false pretense.”

He was sentenced last July to “probation for five years” and ordered to pay “restitution” of $559,911.51 to 11 victims who paid for but never got homes he was paid to build.

In fact, Gallaway was allowed to travel to Florida, so he could work to pay off his crimes, with Pryor adding, “That is what was represented to me and to the court, that he was there (in Florida) working so that he could repay our victims here.”

Gallaway’s Virgin Islands attorney, David Cattie, told WESH 2 Investigates, “Mr. Gallaway is in the process of making restitution according to the order of the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, (and) has already paid over $200,000.”

As for Gallaway’s central Florida customers, we asked him, “Are you going to give back some of her money?” Gallaway declined to answer.

We may learn more at his Volusia County criminal case pre-trial hearing in December. Gallaway’s local attorney in that case, Richard Hornsby, declined comment for our report.

If you have done business with contractors and believe they have not fulfilled their contract, you can file a complaint with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation and with local law enforcement.