Real Estate Execs Plead Guilty, Agree to Trust Fund Payout After Death of Construction Worker

Three executives of a local real estate investment firm that failed to meet insurance requirements when a construction worker died on the job changed their pleas to guilty Thursday and agreed to pay out a trust fund for the man's infant son.

"Three Frogs" of La Mesa bought, renovated and sold homes for profit - a process called "flipping."

Joshua Pudsey, 42, was killed on the job in November 2013. Pudsey was on an aerial lift trimming a 60-foot eucalyptus tree, which he was not licensed to do, when a branch fell and crushed his head.

Prosecutors said the Three Frogs executives – David Wolf, John Murphy and Jonathan Cox – violated OSHA safety regulations and workers insurance laws.

Because the company failed to have workers compensation insurance, the man's son, 8-month-old Jackson, did not receive the payout he should have for his father's death - the father he'll never meet.

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Jackson Joshua Pudsey was born 7 months after his dad was killed on the job.

The three entered guilty pleas in a San Diego courtroom Thursday and the judge said if the men paid the nearly $300,000 Jackson would have gotten from workers comp by their sentencing date, the plea deal stands.

That deal, he said, could mean up to one year in jail followed by probation.

Judge Timothy P. Walsh said the three men were under the impression they had all the necessary licensing and insurances, but "these pleas reflect the fact that you were wrong."

Early in the proceedings, there was some question about whether Pudsey was an independent contractor or an employee of the company. His mother argued it shouldn't matter.

The charges, originally felonies, were dropped to misdemeanors as part of the deal. Judge Walsh said because the crime was failing to ensure the man's beneficiaries were properly taken care of in the event of his death, paying out what should have been available to Jackson makes up for that crime.

Jackson's mother and Pudsey's fiance Vangie Richards said she is pleased with the change in plea and the three needed to admit they were wrong.

"What they need to remember is a man was killed," Richards said. "A man lost his life due to their incompetency."

Richards said the argument is about insurance and the enforcement of employers to have workers compensation available.

"Insurance needs to be made a big deal. It's a very practical thing that a lot of people take advantage of. It's a corner they cut," Richards said after court Thursday. "Because they cut this corner, obviously a man died, and there's more punishment now for not having insurance and for them being idiots."

Richards was pregnant with Pudsey's son at the time of his death. The family had to fight to have Pudsey's name put on the birth certificate.

Now, Richards said Jackson is sure to be a successful adult.

"Well, if he doesn't get his first round draft pick, then I'm sure he'll pick a very wonderful college to go to," she said.

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