Tree-Cutter Is Ordered to Begin Jail Term
An Ojai Valley property owner convicted of illegally bulldozing 300 oak trees has been ordered to begin serving a jail sentence he received more than a year ago.
William Kaddis, a Los Angeles real estate broker who owns a 44-acre ranch near Lake Casitas, was found guilty in May 2003 of 11 criminal counts stemming from the clearing of nearly half of his property off Baldwin Road in the fall of 2001.
Kaddis, 60, was ordered Wednesday to report to Ventura County Jail on Oct. 20.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge Kevin McGee added 45 days to the original 210-day sentence he gave Kaddis last year as punishment for failing to pay a $500,000 penalty, said the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Karen Wold.
“It’s frustrating it has been dragged out this long,” Wold said.
“The bottom line is you can’t intentionally violate environmental laws and not have any punishment for that.”
Kaddis avoided going to jail earlier because of several court appeals.
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