Under investigation when he died, an Augusta County builder left a trail of victims
Mark Rubin had a dream that was more than three decades in the making.
Using money he'd saved from a year of mowing lawns, Rubin was just a teenager when he plunked down his hard-earned cash for a plot of land in West Virginia.
"I wanted to get my name on a deed at 15 so I could prove to people that I planned this when I was 15," he recently said from his home in Potomac, Maryland.
Rubin, now 52, was going to construct a log cabin, similar to the ones he used to build as a young boy while playing with his toy set of Lincoln Logs. "I had it in my mind for 35 years exactly what I wanted to make in West Virginia," Rubin said. The cabin was going to be part of a planned global eco-project that he labeled as his "life's dream."
But that dream ultimately turned into a financial nightmare after meeting local contractor Wesley Pittman Jr.
Wesley Pittman Jr. arrested, indicted
Pittman was a contractor who owned Blue Ridge Log Homes, Pittman Construction and Creative Renovations, all in the Staunton area. But last summer, complaints of fraud began pouring in to the Augusta County Sheriff's Office, prompting authorities to scrutinize his business dealings.
The first indication that something was amiss, at least publicly, was Aug. 19 when local authorities arrested Pittman on a lone count of construction fraud stemming out of Appomattox County. But Pittman's troubles continued to grow, and on Sept. 26 he was facing an avalanche of charges after the Augusta County grand jury indicted him on 18 felony counts of obtaining money by false pretenses and one count of construction fraud.
At a bond hearing, it was revealed he'd collected nearly $3 million for various projects that were never completed, with some of those projects showing no work being done at all. More than $2 million was unaccounted for, a prosecutor said, and tens of thousands of dollars from at least two bank accounts disappeared without a trace.
Following his second arrest, Pittman secured a $300,000 bond and was released from jail. Despite the allegations, he was able to land a job at a North Carolina company as vice president of operations overseeing construction projects. Court records listed his salary at $75,000 per year.
The criminal case against him moved forward and a five-day jury trial on the 19 felony charges was set to begin later this year in October in Augusta County Circuit Court.
The state, however, won't get its chance to prosecute Pittman, who died of a massive heart attack Nov. 19 at the CarolinaEast Medical Center in New Bern, North Carolina, exactly three months after his initial arrest. Pittman was 58 years old.
His death impacted a trail of victims who are now left to wonder if they'll ever recover their money.
Settling on Pittman, who eventually 'disappeared'
With his life-long dream coming into focus, Rubin realized he'd need a general contractor after purchasing his cabin kit. After interviewing two different firms, he settled on Pittman Construction. "The reason that I went with him over the other guy is he called me back right away. He called me back, he emailed me back and then later texted me. He was very responsive," Rubin said. "From my perspective, he was reliable, if nothing else … to me that's worth a lot."
Rubin took the 2 1/2-hour trip to Staunton from Potomac to meet Pittman at his model log home on Lee Jackson Highway. "I wanted to see if it was real. Would I see trucks, would I see workers, would they be wearing logoed jackets, would the trucks be clean? I wanted to see the operation," Rubin recalled.
The meeting left Rubin impressed. Pittman had blueprints, there were a dozen or so employees at the model getting ready to head out for their day's work, and the parking lot had a small fleet of vehicles with "Pittman Construction" displayed on the sides.
"I called my wife and was like, 'This is the guy,'" he said.
Rubin again met with Pittman in 2021, and was told a $100,000 deposit was needed before any work was to begin. Doing his due diligence, Rubin called a second cabin company just to make sure the deposit Pittman asked for was legitimate. "And that matched their number too, to get started, like that was the number," Rubin said. "So I wrote them a check."
Still in 2021, the work was supposed to start about two months after Rubin signed the agreement. But with winter looming and the holidays fast approaching, Rubin said the project was delayed. When he spoke to Pittman, the contractor told him there were other projects in the works that needed to be finished before he could get to Rubin's West Virginia property. The explanation sounded reasonable, and besides, whenever Rubin needed to speak with Pittman the contractor was readily available.
"That's why I wasn't worried. He was always (getting) right back to me," he said.
Several months went by and finally the project was about to start in the summer of 2022. "And this is where he got me," Rubin said.
Pittman explained that the initial $100,000 deposit he'd received from Rubin was for materials, and said he would need need a second deposit — about $110,000 — to get the wood for the cabin cut into logs before the project could start. Pittman also informed Rubin that the company the Potomac man had selected to cut the logs was backed up. However, Pittman said he'd managed to line up another company to do the cuts. Again, in an effort to make sure he wasn't being duped, Rubin went back over the original paperwork.
"There was another draw for logs on the form," he said. Pittman even sent Rubin pictures of the mill. "For some reason, it didn't occur to me that this could lead to some type of scam." Rubin cut Pittman a second check. "I had never done this before," he said. "This was my dream cabin clouding my judgment. I'd been saving up my whole life for this, so I was ready to go."
They met onsite in West Virginia three times as Pittman's crew measured the property, discussed access to the site, and spoke with utility companies. A month before the project was to start, Rubin got together with Pittman at a permit office in Morefield, West Virginia.
"He met me there pretending this was going to happen, and that's why it seemed real.
"He was playing the game. He had not ordered a thing. There was no mill, he didn't put an order in, I checked. There's no order, nothing," Rubin said.
By the summer of 2022, all Pittman could offer Rubin was excuses as to why construction hadn't begun. Rubin said he began to get nervous as the Augusta County contractor blamed the pandemic and supply chain issues that plagued many builders at the time. Soon after, Rubin said Pittman was nowhere to be found.
"He disappeared on me," Rubin said.
Rubin tried contacting Pittman and threatened legal action if he didn't reply. After reaching out to a Staunton attorney, Rubin was told to call authorities. When he spoke with an investigator at the Augusta County Sheriff's Office, Rubin was told he was the seventh victim to reach out to authorities so far. That number quickly ballooned.
Rubin, an entrepreneur, said the entire ordeal has left him feeling sad and disappointed.
While his dream for a cabin has been temporarily dashed, Rubin said his global eco-project is still very much a go. Dubbed "Project Honeylight," Rubin said he plans to teach children about "money and business through the energy collection and storage patterns of honey bees." The project includes a children's book he co-authored, as well as a "glamping" site (envision slightly more modern camping) in West Virginia just minutes away from where he was going to build his cabin with Pittman.
"My dream's not over," Rubin said. "It's just delayed."
Pittman finishes Staunton home, issues persist
Angela Mannarino, 40, relocated from Michigan to the area about two years ago. Looking to build a home, in December 2021, she entered into a contract with Pittman to construct a two-story residence in a Staunton subdivision off Commerce Road for $450,000.
Pittman promised to have it done in six months, but Mannarino said it took a year. When it was finished, problems persisted, she said.
"My house is still not complete," Mannarino said in August.
Some of the flooring is suffering from dry rot because Mannarino said Pittman failed to use tarps to keep the elements out of the home as it was being constructed. "If you walk into my bedroom, it sounds like a 70-year-old house," she said.
The roof also had to be fixed. "It was leaking into my bedroom," Mannarino said.
There were other problems as well. The construction project had at least four to five managers, she said, and employee turnover was constant. On the front porch, Mannarino said cement from a front step fell off. Grading on both sides of the home was done improperly, she said, and the driveway was pitted. Three doors in the home wouldn't close, no screens were placed in the windows and the foundation had to be re-done. Pittman made promises to fix the errors but Mannarino said his reassurances fell flat.
"I knew it was just always lip service with him," she said.
Mannarino also recalled Pittman putting forth a religious vibe. "He had crosses everywhere, (showing) that he was a religious man, you know, 'I'm a family man,'" she said.
Because of all the issues and delays with her home, Mannarino had to get a temporary hotel room and needed to rent storage space while waiting for construction to conclude. The fees were passed along to Pittman. When her realtor tried addressing some of the problems with him, in a snippy email Pittman blamed the pandemic for materials delays, manufacturing shutdowns and a loss of employees.
"Now the delays and pricing is not your fault or mine but here we are because of the pandemic. So if you want to keep pushing the damn issue of cost then I’m going to push the issues of paying the overage of the building material of $47,000.00. I almost have the house completed so stop threatening me, I have been very nice and very accommodating," he said in the email.
When Mannarino took a closer look at some of her itemized expenditures, she noticed Pittman went with cheaper items than what she'd ordered and said he pocketed the difference. "We came up with thousands of dollars that were never allocated back to us," she said.
Like he'd done with so many others, Pittman eventually went silent and ghosted Mannarino.
Another victim, who asked that her name not be used, said she and her husband thought they were in negotiations with Pittman last summer to get their deposit back after their project never got off the ground. The News Leader's initial article on Pittman in late August was her first indication that there were others in the same boat. It was at that moment she realized their deposit of more than $100,000 was probably gone for good.
The Richmond couple sued Pittman Construction soon after the first article appeared.
Investigator says Pittman collected nearly $3 million
Lt. Steven A. Cason, commander of the Augusta County Sheriff's Office Investigations Division, said he began receiving complaints against Pittman last July. In all, there were 23 victims, although Cason said he was still waiting to hear from more so he could assign their cases. He said Pittman collected $2.9 million from his victims.
While investigating Pittman, Cason said it became clear his "business finances were a mess. Cash withdrawals, multiple transactions on the same day to different lenders, vendors, investment corporations."
Following the announcement of Pittman's death in November, Augusta County Commonwealth's Attorney Tim Martin said it was obvious the contractor "was engaged in criminal fraud.” Cason said he was in absolute agreement with Martin.
"He had a recurring pattern of requiring large down payments from the victims. He had two- and three-step draws set up, with minimal work being completed on a particular project(s), but just enough to generate that 'next draw' of money from the lender, then work would stop," Cason said in an email. "Only a few projects he started were ever finished. I believe around two to four homes were actually completed, with a few of them having some issues being looked at."
Following Pittman's death, Augusta County Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Katie Jackson said it was evident he was operating a criminal enterprise and that he'd taken on more projects than he could hope to finish. Cason said he heard the same from Pittman's employees, who he said told their former boss he was selling too many packages and trying to construct too many homes for a company of its size.
"He didn’t have a large enough workforce to complete even half of the projects he took on, yet he kept selling packages without materials coming in," Cason noted.
Like those he contracted with, when interviewed by authorities, Pittman blamed the pandemic and the pricing of materials for his company's woes. Cason said there's still no indication of where all of the missing money went.
"He said he wanted to pay the money back, but knew it would take time," the investigator said.
Supporters said Pittman was 'a man of integrity'
Pittman's criminal attorney, Scott Alleman, as he stated following Pittman's unexpected death in November, believes his former client would have been exonerated on all of the criminal charges had the case been able to move forward.
"In my opinion, if the investigator had done a diligent and fair investigation, he would have clearly determined that there was no fraud involved in the failure of these businesses and that this was, like the failure of many other businesses during this time period, another unfortunate consequence of the COVID crisis," Alleman said.
The attorney said lumber costs rose 500% at one point during the pandemic, and said had the case gone to trial his experts would have testified "price increases like this have never been seen in the construction industry and large numbers of construction companies failed during this time period."
Alleman said Pittman was heartbroken by the failure of his business, but argued some of the numbers put forward by county authorities were inflated. "The commonwealth's numbers were greatly exaggerated and the reason the commonwealth couldn't offer an explanation of where the money went is because there was no fraud," Alleman said. "He was a good man that loved his family. He was a respected businessman in this community up to the point that the unforeseen consequences of the COVID crisis caused the failure of his business."
Despite the numerous allegations of fraud, Pittman had some backing in the community as well, according to several letters filed in support of him being granted bond while awaiting trial.
Benjamin Coursey said he'd known Pittman for about 20 years and worked for him the past four years as an electrical contractor. "When he began Pittman Construction he had high ambition to create a mega construction company very quickly and definitely went after the business to do so, especially the log cabin market where there is less competition," he said in his letter.
Coursey said he wasn't sure what happened to Pittman's company. "As somebody that knew Wesley personally as well as professionally, I never got the impression that he was in business for false motives. Especially theft," he said.
Another supporter wrote of Pittman's religious leanings. "I can attest to his character and integrity as a minister of the gospel as well as an upstanding businessman," said Jon Justine.
Kevin Huffer described Pittman as "honorable, respectful, responsible and a man of faith," and in his letter said he'd been friends with him for over 25 years. "He is a man of integrity and I believe the courts should give him the chance to prove it," Huffer said.
Before those letters were penned, Pittman's companies were already being sued in Augusta County. So far, at least four lawsuits have been filed against him. All have similar complaints of Pittman collecting large deposits but doing little to no work after pocketing the cash and eventually losing contact with his supposed clients, including a couple that gave Pittman a deposit of $286,000 to build a log home, court records show.
After Pittman died, Martin noted the case was over and said there was nothing left for the criminal justice system to do for the victims. But the Augusta County prosecutor said the victims still had some recourse by going the civil route and suing his estate. However, some of the victims The News Leader spoke to seemed hesitant to do so because of the expense, and many weren't confident they'd be successful in collecting any cash.
The Richmond couple's lawsuit concluded in December when a judge ruled Pittman's company was in breach of contract and violated the Virginia Consumer Protection Act after abandoning the Greene County project in 2021. The judge awarded them $108,600, according to a court filing, which was the initial deposit given to Pittman in 2021.
The couple has yet to collect a penny.
Brad Zinn is the cops, courts and breaking news reporter at The News Leader. Have a news tip? Or something that needs investigating? You can email reporter Brad Zinn (he/him) at bzinn@newsleader.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Staunton News Leader: Millions missing after Augusta County contractor dies
