'Landlords from hell' get 4 years in felony plea, fake email went to lawyers on both sides
A California couple described by prosecutors as “landlords from hell,” who conducted a campaign of terror to evict existing tenants from a six-flat San Francisco investment property so they could rehab it, have accepted a felony plea bargain.
Kip Macy, 38, a former software developer, and his wife, Nicole, 37, are each expected to be sentenced to 52 months in August. They pleaded guilty Tuesday to residential burglary, stalking and attempted grand theft in the felony case, after being extradited last month from Italy, according to ABC News 7 and the San Francisco Examiner.
The inventive—and illegal—techniques prosecutors say they used to try to force their tenants to go elsewhere included sawing out portions of the floor in occupied units and pouring ammonia over personal belongings.
“He actually saw the saw coming up … and at that point his friend took a hammer … and hammered the blade of the saw flush with the floor so it would stop sawing,” prosecutor Kelly Burke said of the hole being cut in the floor of tenant Scott Morrow’s living room.
Prosecutors say Nicole Macy set up an email account in Morrow’s name and sent a message attempting to fire the lawyer representing him in a civil eviction case. She is also accused by prosecutors of sending email in Morrow’s name to the couple’s own counsel, making threats against the attorney’s children. That resulted in a restraining order being issued against Morrow, the San Francisco Chronicle noted in 2008.
The couple were charged that year and fled the U.S.
Hat tip: Daily Mail.
See also:
ABAJournal.com (2008): “Landlords Charged in Calif. Rental Rage Case Cut Hole in Tenant’s Floor”
