KEY WEST, September 19, 2019 – A Miami man has pleaded out to several criminal charges related to illegal building contracting in Monroe County and been sentenced to six months in jail.
Monroe County Circuit Court Judge Mark Jones handed down the sentence September 12 to Ulises Wiltz, 50. He was also ordered to serve 60 months of probation and pay restitution to his victims. Assistant State Attorney Christine Poist represented the state.
Wiltz portrayed himself as a state-licensed contractor when he wasn’t and entered into formal contracts with residents during which he collected a portion of the money to be paid. In three of the four cases against him, he failed to start the work. In one case, he started the work but did not finish it.
Wiltz pleaded no contest to four counts of using a suspended contracting certificate during a governor-declared State of Emergency and two counts of grand theft by a contractor. Then-governor Rick Scott had declared a statewide State of Emergency on September 4, 2017, six days before the devastating Category 4 Hurricane Irma struck the Keys.
In one case from October 12, 2017, Wiltz accepted a $7,770 deposit from a homeowner to replace a roof for $26,400 even though Wiltz’s roofing license had earlier been revoked by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
On October 25, 2017, another homeowner gave Wiltz an $8,745 deposit on a roofing job. Wiltz had misrepresented himself as state-licensed.
On October 30, 2017, another homeowner gave Wiltz a $7,100 deposit for a new roof, the total cost of which was quoted as $23,850. Again, Wiltz’s license had been revoked.
In another case, Wiltz collected an $8,170.50 deposit from a homeowner on November 27, 2017, to replace a roof for $27,235. Wiltz again misrepresented himself as licensed by the state.
The Monroe County State Attorney’s Office encourages homeowners to do a diligent search on any contractor prior to entering into any agreements and giving out money. Homeowners can visit Monroe County’s webpage (www.monroecounty-fl.gov/162/Contractor-Information-Forms-Application) to review the list of local registered contractors, or visit DPBR’s page www.myfloridalicense.com/wl11.asp?mode=0&SID=) for a license search.