Sunday, June 11, 2006

Slum Lords - Steven Green and Emilio Ippolito

According to the Times, slumlord Steven Green is selling off his properties. He was the owner of numerous apartment buildings. He was the owner of the 212-unit Amberwood Apartments in Temple Terrace that closed in 2002 after inspectors found more than 500 violations.

"Last year, Tampa code inspectors found scores of violations at Westport Commons, including faulty plumbing, broken windows, mildew, cracked and damaged walls, broken air conditioners, rodents and trash, such as mattresses and auto parts, strewn about the grounds. Of 134 apartments, only 28 passed inspection. Sixteen were declared unfit for human habitation.

Green has encountered such troubles before. He once was listed among New York's 10 worst landlords and still holds the record for the highest fines ever issued by Hillsborough County code enforcement, $1.3-million."

However his notoriety pales in comparison with Emilio Ippolito, at one point Hillsborough County's largest landlord, and slumlord extraodinaire.

Basically he got code violated numerous times for being a slumlord, and instead of fixing things up he decided to start one of those antigovernment fringe groups that was all the rage in the early to mid 1990's and go after the government. He dragged his daughter, Susan Mokdad, into it all his litigation, starting when she was 5 years old. He ended up losing most of his property.

From the Anti Government Movement Guidebook
"The emergence of Florida's first common law court in the mid-1990s
reflected all of these concerns. The guiding spirit behind the court's emergence
was Emilio Ippolito, a Tampa, Florida, property owner who possessed millions of
dollars worth of low-income housing. Ippolito, along with his daughter Susan
Mokdad, a co-owner, fought a long-running battle in the 1980s and 1990s with
city authorities over various building code violations in Ippolito's apartment
buildings. The structures incurred repeated fines for faulty wiring, and missing
extinguishers and smoke alarms. Some were declared fire hazards and closed down.
As their struggles with the city intensified, Ippolito and Mokdad became
increasingly politicized. Ippolito first formed Defenders of Life and Property,
Inc., in 1991, a group opposing city code enforcement boards. By 1993 he and
Mokdad had become leaders in a more radical group that called itself Pro Se
Litigants."

"Indeed, by 1993 Schramek, Ippolito, Mokdad, Eidson and others in the group
had launched dozens of suits against lawyers, judges, the Florida Bar, and other
organizations and individuals. Eidson went so far as to post a document in the
Hillsborough County courthouse calling for the formation of a "posse comitatus."
Ippolito and Mokdad even served brief stints in jail for fighting with bailiffs
during one trial. By then they had lost much of their property in their
continuing and losing battle with city authorities as it was seized or condemned
for various building violations. Hardened veterans now, thoroughly disenchanted
with the existing legal system, it was an easy step for them to form in mid-1993
a legal system of their own, the "Constitutional Court of We the People."
Ippolito and Mokdad and others not only formed the court, but advertised in
local papers that they would hear divorce proceedings for a $25 fee. Within a
year they moved from bogus divorce proceedings to issuing arrest warrants for
local judges. The Constitutional Court's "Fugitive Warrants Unit" warned judges
to "schedule appointments" or face "physical arrest at your home or workplace by
the Militia which could result in a dangerous confrontation."[19]

The common law court finally went too far when, in support of the
California tax protest group called the Pilot Connection Society, it mailed
threatening letters to the jury trying a fraud case against the tax protest
group's leaders. Ippolito, Mokdad, and others were arrested and indicted in the
spring of 1996 on conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and other charges,
covering the arrest warrants, the Pilot Connection letters and threats against
other federal officials and jury members."


He was sentenced to 11 years in prison. His daughter was sentenced to 10 years. According to the Bureau of Prisons he was released on 12-30-2005 . According to the Times his daughter died in prison in April 2002.

Interestingly, neither the Tampa Tribune nor the St. Pete Times did an article about his release.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

sesh2,
you are a bitter mixed up buffoon who makes dumb accusations about people you dont know. I'm not referring to green or ippolito, I mean your ass backwards assuptions of what other bloggers might think.

Anonymous said...

Hmm...I thought it was pretty funny.
Couldn't find and pregnant women to beat today?

Anonymous said...

obviously the rain has an effect on all your attitudes. If you need to be nasty then take it out on your family members - I'm sure they are use to it - otherwise go watch Springer and stay off the blog on days like this!

Anonymous said...

Thank you Anonymous 2:36. Reading this blog has made me wonder if people actually would say the horrible things they write if brought face to face with the other blogger. I don’t think they would. While that’s a reassuring fact it is still sad that people can lash out without regard for others. Someone at some point has to be the bigger person and let an issue drop. Especially when all is left is name calling. If I am to believe that the people that post and read this blog are adults and homeowners I would like to see more acting like it. Much like a kindergarten teacher I don’t care who started it you can always chose to ignore it.

Anonymous said...

Kenny, is that you again?
I thought that quote was funny.
At least a few of you have some funny skills.
The reason we can't meet face to face is that I might have a felony charge by the time we were done.
I like it clean, and he like it dirty.
We have a fundamental disagreement.

Anonymous said...

Ippolito is from the notorious Tampa crime family by the same name. Red "Cowboy" Ippolito was a capo. We still see lots of remnants of these families around and hardly any of them are up to any good.

Anonymous said...

Look people I hate who I work for and that is one of the guys that the blog uis about.. Steven Green.. He is A very BIG ASS I KNOW I have met him.. he buys up properties and flips them doesn't care for his tenants the mortage is so high on the properties the bills don't get paid.. he is a slumlord and always will be one..oh yeah and he is queer.. so all u idiots that are bite each others heads off at what u say stop and go back to the issue of the blog those 2 asses or shut the hell up

Anonymous said...

Do any of you know Emilio? I know him personally, he is my cousin! And you all don't know what you are talking about pure and simple. Emilio is someone who has devoted himself to learning the
Constitution? Remember that?
Too bad that people talk about twha they don't know. Emilio has
helped so many people from losing
their homes and other things.

Cheez...you guys get a life!