Anaheim Leaders Seek to Jail Noncompliant Landlord

Anaheim officials sought Tuesday to have landlord Sam Menlo sentenced to 16 months in jail for failing to repair dilapidated housing.

Menlo has repeatedly failed to meet court-imposed deadlines to fix up buildings at the rundown Ridgewood Gardens apartment complex in Anaheim, Deputy City Atty. Mike Burke said at a court hearing in Orange. He filed a request to revoke Menlo’s probation, which would result in the jail sentence.

No decision is expected to be made until an April hearing.

Menlo has a long history of code-enforcement violations in Anaheim and around Southern California. He was sentenced in September to serve 60 days at the apartments.

Midway through his sentence, Menlo, 72, suffered an apparent stroke, and his attorneys have argued that he is too ill to return. On Tuesday, his attorneys also requested that Menlo’s sentence be modified so he does not have to serve the remaining time.

A hearing on Menlo’s medical condition and the probation violation is scheduled for next month. Menlo, who was hospitalized for several days, has returned to his home in Hancock Park.