BOYLE HEIGHTS : Landlords Face Up to 3 Years in Jail

The owners of the Hollenbeck View Hotel face up to three years in jail and a $6,000 fine after being found guilty of six misdemeanor health and safety code violations.

Sentencing for James V. and Gwendolyn G. Carone is scheduled for July 7 before Judge Ronald Schoenberg. Attorney Victor M. Salerno, who represented the Mission Viejo couple, said he will file an appeal of the June 4 verdicts.

The Carones were originally charged in November with 28 counts of code violations at the residential hotel at 2033 E. 4th St. after city inspectors found large holes in walls, cockroach infestation, broken windows, illegal locks, leaky plumbing, exposed electrical wiring, a missing smoke detector, missing exit lighting and a damaged fire hose.

The jury acquitted the Carones on 16 counts and deadlocked on an additional three. Three other counts were dismissed before the jury started deliberations.

The six guilty verdicts related to an abandoned refrigerator, burglar bars on a second-story window, a lock on a fire door, a leaking pipe, a damaged screen that was supposed to keep out rodents and an uncovered electrical fixture, Salerno said.

Deputy City Atty. Michael R. Wilkinson said the building has been found by inspectors to meet fire, building and safety codes, but some health code violations remain. “We have some (landlords) get them fixed up quite properly,” he said. “Mr. Carone has taken more time to get them fixed up.”