SPRINGFIELD — Springfield’s former mayor pleaded no contest and was sentenced to probation Monday for allowing an employee of his construction company to work without state-required injury coverage.
The Florida Department of Financial Services’ Fraud Division arrested 62-year-old Robert Walker last October on a count of workers’ compensation fraud for violating a stop work order. One of Walker’s employees didn’t have legally required workers’ comp coverage but was instructed to continue working after the order was issued. Walker pleaded no contest to the charge Monday in exchange for 18 months of probation.
Walker was accused of allowing an employee of his construction company, La Rew Enterprises Inc., to work without workers’ compensation insurance coverage, according to charging documents.
Investigators issued the stop work order on Nov. 6, 2012. They found the uninsured worker at a job site eight days later. The crew said they were protecting the building’s unfinished roof from a coming storm, and they had cleared it with Walker’s attorney.
Investigators disagreed and charged Walker with a third-degree felony.
The DFS fined Walker $1,000. Walker said his attorney told him the work was permitted because he had to protect the property and materials from the storm. All told, the penalties DFS assessed against Walker were $2,949.
Walker was Springfield’s mayor for 17 years until challenger Ralph Hammond defeated him in April 2013.