An unlicensed Central Florida contractor who already owes a dozen U.S. Virgin Islands families more than $650,000 has avoided prison time yet again, this time after entering new pleas in a felony and a misdemeanor case tied to unfinished home projects around Orlando and Deltona. Anson Gallaway received one year of probation in one case and ten years of probation in another, with a judge ordering him to repay victims rather than serve time behind bars.
Gallaway pleaded no contest to a second-degree grand theft felony involving $53,000 taken from an Orlando couple for a home he was supposed to build under Cat 5 Prefab Homes, and never finished, according to WESH. He also pleaded no contest to taking $44,500 from Juliette Harrell for an accessory dwelling unit he never started, and pleaded guilty to accepting $45,000 from a Deltona family in Volusia County for an unfinished home addition. Judge Michael Kraynick, who presided over the plea hearing in the Ninth Judicial Circuit, ordered Gallaway to pay restitution at a rate of not less than $500 per month and to stay gainfully employed so he can keep making those payments.
Grand Theft Charges Carried Up to 15 Years
Kraynick noted that Gallaway had been charged with one count of second-degree grand theft involving $20,000 or more, a charge that under Florida Statute § 812.014(2)(b) is a second-degree felony carrying maximum statutory penalties of up to 15 years in state prison and a $10,000 fine, according to Online Sunshine. Gallaway could have received that maximum sentence in the grand theft case alone, per the WESH report, but instead was ordered to pay nearly $100,000 combined to the two families and avoided a jail term entirely. He also separately accepted $45,000 from an Orlando homeowner for pool work that was never completed and, according to the same report, has not repaid that money.
Gallaway also took a $45,000 deposit from an Orlando homeowner for pool work that went incomplete, and the station’s report notes he has yet to repay that debt. He may not work in the contracting business going forward, and he cannot appeal his convictions, though he has 30 days to appeal the sentences themselves. State corporate records show Gallaway registered Cat5 Home Center, LLC as an Orlando-based limited liability company on February 15, 2023, according to Sunbiz.org, the entity he used to solicit Central Florida homeowners for prefabricated homes and additions.
A Prior Conviction and a Pattern Across Counties
By June 2026, investigative reporting had already confirmed that Gallaway was convicted of unlicensed contracting in Volusia County before his plea deal resolved the remaining charges in his two Orange County cases. Under Florida Statute § 489.127, contracting without a license is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail for a first offense, but escalates to a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years for repeat offenses, according to the Florida Senate. The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation separately assessed a $6,000 fine against Gallaway, a civil penalty the agency is empowered to levy under Florida Statutes §§ 489.13 and 455.228, which allow fines up to $10,000 per violation against unlicensed contractors…