A4S LLC
Outcome
Owner Peter Dillon pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and four years of probation after a 23-year-old worker died in a trench collapse at a Breckenridge residential sewer project.
Details
A4S LLC — Fatal Trench Collapse / Criminal Manslaughter (2021)
Outcome: Owner Peter Dillon pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter and was sentenced to 90 days in jail and four years of probation after 23-year-old worker Marlon Alfredo Diaz died in a trench collapse during a residential sewer installation in Breckenridge, Colorado.
On November 16, 2021, 23-year-old Marlon Alfredo Diaz was installing a residential sewer line at a job site in Breckenridge, Colorado when the unprotected trench he was working in collapsed on him. Diaz was an employee of A4S LLC, a Vail-based construction company owned by Peter Dillon. Diaz suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene.
OSHA investigated and in May 2022 issued three willful citations to A4S LLC. The agency found that Dillon's company had not ensured a competent person inspected the excavation, failed to instruct employees on recognizing and avoiding unsafe conditions, and had not provided any trench protective system — no sloping, no shoring, no trench box. OSHA also cited a serious violation for failing to have a safe means of egress within 25 lateral feet of workers in the trench. OSHA proposed $449,583 in penalties and placed A4S LLC in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program. After Dillon contested the violations, the penalty was reduced to $100,000 in a settlement.
In January 2023, a Summit County judge issued an arrest warrant for Dillon on felony manslaughter charges. Dillon surrendered to the Summit County Sheriff's Office on January 24, 2023. On August 3, 2023, Dillon pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter. In November 2023 a court sentenced him to 90 days in jail, four years of probation, and prohibited him from any future ownership, leadership, or management position involving trenching or excavation, or oversight of workplace safety and health. A4S LLC has since ceased operations.
Primary Source: Facing manslaughter charges in worker's 2021 trench collapse death, Colorado contractor who willfully ignored federal law surrenders to police
How Crucible Prevents This
A real-time competent-person inspection log would have caught missing trench protective system before work began. A pre-excavation checklist enforcement tool would have required documentation of sloping, shoring, or trench box before any worker entered. OSHA's Severe Violator designation triggered only after death; a Crucible-style continuous compliance monitor would flag the gap before the fatality.
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