Doctor-Slumlord Goes to Jail

Dr. Milton Avol, the neurosurgeon-landlord from Beverly Hills whose failure to remedy building code violations in his downtown apartment buildings resulted in a sentence of 30 days in jail and 30 days under house arrest in one of his buildings, was ordered to begin serving his jail time this morning.

A shocked Avol, who had expected to remain free pending an appeal, was led into custody by sheriff’s deputies from the courtroom of Los Angeles Municipal Court Judge Veronica Simmons McBeth. Avol, 61, who had filed an appeal of the sentence McBeth imposed Monday, had already posted $50,000 bail set by McBeth. However, McBeth refused to grant a stay.