Manslaughter charges in death of a construction worker

In the first prosecution of its kind in the Bronx, the owner of a city construction company faces manslaughter charges for his role in the August 2019 death of a worker at a Norwood construction site, officials said. 

Augustine Adesanmi, 67, the owner of Favored Design and Construction, also faces a charge of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the death of Segundo Manuel Huerta Mayancela. Two other men with ties to the company were similarly charged: Akhlak Choudhary, 54, the general contractor for the project, and Abazi Okoro, 66, the site’s construction superintendent. 

Huerta Mayancela, a 46-year-old married father of five from Ecuador, was killed and five other workers injured when the third floor of a four-story residential project collapsed under the weight of about 1,000 pounds of stacked concrete blocks and other construction material. A subsequent investigation determined that steel joists intended to support the third floor’s metal flooring were not properly secured. 

“The construction site at 94 East 208th St. was a death trap waiting to happen,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said during a Wednesday press conference announcing the charges. “An unqualified company allegedly used fraudulent credentials, ignored oversight requirements and building codes.”

City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber said a Department of Buildings permit for the project was fraudulently obtained and that Okoro, who as the site’s construction superintendent was responsible for the site’s overall safety, and the others neglected to follow construction protocols. 

“These defendants ignored essential safety requirements,” she said at the press conference. 

Clark’s office said Favored Design was enlisted to build an eight-unit apartment building on what was a vacant lot for $1.2 million. Adesanmi and a fourth man, Fatos Mustafaj, allegedly told the lot’s owner that the company was qualified to build new construction and that they would secure the necessary permits and insurance.

But Favored Design did not have the qualifications required under the city’s building code and enlisted Choudhary, a qualified contractor, to get a building permit, the DA's office said. Four bogus notarized documents were eventually filed in Choudhary’s name to get the permit. A sham insurance policy was also secured. 

Choudhary was charged with four counts of offering a false instrument for filing. Mustafaj, 64, faces a second-degree grand larceny count, as does Adesanmi. 

Okoro, who at the time was employed by the city’s Department of Design and Construction, was allegedly paid $3,000 “for the use of his credentials,” but apparently never even visited the site, Clark said. 

‘Workers are not expendable’

The district attorney noted that the 2015 construction-related death of another Ecuadorian immigrant, Carlos Moncayo, led to the passage last year of legislation that increased the penalties for criminal corporate liability in construction deaths. “Carlos’ Law” raised the maximum fine for criminal liability from $10,000 to no less than $500,000, or, in the case of a misdemeanor, to no less than $300,000.

That law, Clark said, “creates greater accountability for tragic and avoidable injury to workers at New York construction sites.” She said the “dangerous conditions” that led to Huerta Mayancela's death “are precisely why Carlos’ Law was enacted.” And while the Bronx case predates that law, Clark said it would serve as an important prosecutorial tool in future construction-related deaths. “Workers are not expendable,” she said. 

Adesanmi, Okoro and Mustafaj, who were arraigned April 11 and put on supervised release, are due back in court June 8. Choudhary has not yet been arrested.

Last month, the operator of a Brooklyn construction company was convicted in Brooklyn Supreme Court of criminally negligent homicide and other charges in connection with the death of a 47-year-old construction worker, Luis Almonte Sanchez, at a Sunset Park construction site. 

The site’s foreman was convicted of fourth-degree criminal mischief.

Almonte Sanchez, who was doing foundation work, was buried under thousands of pounds of debris following the collapse of an existing masonry wall. 

The company’s operator, Jiaxi “Jimmy” Liu, 49, faces eight to 16 years in prison when he is sentenced later this month.

richardk@thechiefleader.com