14-05-2025
Minnesota pool contractor at center of a WCCO investigation turns himself in
The pool contractor at the center of a WCCO investigation recently turned himself into jail, and WCCO was there.
This jail stay was for violating a domestic order for protection. Charles Workman still faces federal charges for taking money from families with the promise of backyard pools that he didn't finish.
"Why did you take money from families and never finish the job?" reporter Jennifer Mayerle asked Workman.
Workman was federally indicted two years ago for wire fraud. Promising a swimming pool for more than a dozen families.
Instead, backyards were left in ruin or without any work done at all. The U.S. Attorney's office calls it a scheme to defraud people.
"What do you have to say to them?" Mayerle asked to no answer.
The indictment accuses Workman of fraudulently soliciting more than $750,000 from Twin Cities families. And spending some of what people paid him on child support, at the casino and on a horse and saddle.
Although he initially pleaded not guilty, court records show in January 2024, Workman was going to change his plea to guilty. So far that hasn't happened.
"For the pool victims. I mean, this isn't just delayed justice. This is no justice," David Olson said. Olson's family is just one of more than a dozen who paid for a pool they never got. "It's just soul crushing to see someone who would steal your money and leave nothing behind except destruction and lies," Olson said.
While the families wait for justice through federal court, Workman had to serve time for a case in Scott County. After he pleaded guilty to domestic assault, Workman's estranged wife Jennifer filed for an order for protection against him. He pleaded guilty to violating it 4 times in 2022, finally sentenced in early 2025 leading to his jail stay.
"I had to protect myself and my children from him," she said.
Workman got 10 days in jail, served over the course of a few weekends. He currently lives in Kentucky.
"I don't think it was appropriate. I think he should have gotten a lot more time. But that's what they were giving him," said Jennifer.
As for the pool business, she claims she never knew about the alleged fraud until families started calling.
"I started to get messages personally from customers very upset with him, begging me to help them give them their money. It was very, very hard. There was a lot of arguments," she said. "It was hard to be at home with him. He was constantly worried about, you know, repercussions of this mess he got himself into, and he could not dig his way out of it."
Workman has ignored our requests for a comment on his federal case. So it was here as he checked himself in for a weekend in jail when we caught up with him.
"You can consult my attorney. That's all I have to say, thank you," Workman said.
His victims say they will continue to push for justice.
"We're not just victims, we're fighters, and we're not going to stop until he faces the consequences for his crimes," Olson said.
Since February, WCCO has pushed for answers from the U.S. Attorney's Office about the wait for justice and told the office of Workman's jail time in Scott County.
Recently, a judge scheduled that change of plea hearing for July.
Separately, the Minnesota Attorney General's Office secured a civil judgment against Workman two years ago. A judge ordered he pay more than a million dollars in restitution. So far, he has not paid a dime.
We reached out to Workman's attorneys but have not heard back.
