Local News in Brief : Slum Hotel Owner Gets Freeway Duty

A man convicted of violating health and safety codes by allowing slum conditions at his downtown Los Angeles hotel was sentenced Thursday to two months of cleaning up freeways.

Just before his trial was about to start, Sang In Kim, 37, of West Covina pleaded no contest to 10 violations of fire, health and building and safety codes at the three-story Edwards Hotel at 713 E. 5th St.

Municipal Court Commissioner Barry Kohn ordered Kim to clean Los Angeles area freeways for a two-month period by next June and also ordered him to pay $1,714 in restitution to reimburse city agencies for the costs of the investigation. The freeway work will be supervised by the state Department of Transportation and monitored by the Probation Department.

Kohn also prohibited Kim from owning or managing any residential rental property in Los Angeles for that period.

Before he sold the 39-unit hotel in October, Kim allowed rat and cockroach infestations and trash to accumulate there, city prosecutors said. Investigators found broken windows and exposed live wires and noted that only one bathroom was working in the hotel.