SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio — A jury convicted Said Isaac Mahalli, 60, of eight misdemeanor housing violations in South Euclid Municipal Court after a two-day trial Monday.
Judge Gail Williams-Byers sentenced Mahalli to 45 days in jail, $850 in fines per violation and banned Mahalli from renting homes in South Euclid.
Mahalli represented himself in the case involving his property at 3801 Grosvenor Avenue. Mahallli told the jury was safe Friday. “It has new everything from electrical, plumbing, windows, roof,” he said. “What is dangerous?"
The city disagreed and the home was slated for demolition.
"This case has been a saga since 2012,” said Sally Martin, South Euclid’s Housing Director.
Martin said she and her staff tried for years to help Mahalli bring the home up to code, but he declined to enter the city's compliance program.
“We’ve had a landlord who has not kept up the house, he has not paid his property taxes, he’s allowed the house to run down, and put the tenants in peril,” said Martin.
An exclusive 5 On Your Side investigation revealed last week how Mahalli got away with renting the condemned home to a family eligible for federal rent subsidies.
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A report we obtained from the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority Police Department revealed several systemic failures enabled Mahalli to rent the house last summer and request federal funds from CMHA.
“It was a lapse in the process,” said Jeffrey Wade, Chief of Staff to the CEO, CMHA, during an interview.
The police report said two CMHA employees never told anyone in the agency South Euclid inspectors condemned the home, even after receiving several emails from city officials, including Martin.
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The report found Inspections Supervisor Jermaine Burge allowed the home to pass inspection despite, among other violations, hanging electrical wires, a bathtub with peeling paint and a garage with a missing door and debris.
Wade said CMHA made several changes to policies and procedures, in part, because of the investigation, including outsourcing inspections to a third-party and communicating more closely with municipalities.
After the investigation, the two employees were suspended. Burge was fired after he admitted “taking money from landlords for lunch” at least 30 times over his career, but said he ended the practices several years ago.
Wade said Mahalli has also been banned from receiving CMHA funds or acting as an agent for a property receiving CMHA funds.
