Town: Medford Landlord Guilty For Housing Code Violations

A Medford landlord recently convicted as guilty for a number of Brookhaven Town housing code violations is being held on a $50,000 bail  at the Riverhead correctional facility and is pending sentencing, announced the Town in a release .

According to the release, Chesley Ruffin was ordered to be held by Suffolk County Sixth District Court Judge Janine Barbara-Dalli for the bail charge or $100,000 cash bond. Under the Town’s revised housing codes, Ruffin could be sentenced up to 150 days in jail upon sentencing or fines of up to $24,000.

The Town says that Ruffin was convicted for violations which include several counts of having no rental registration and a unregistered vehicle at residences on Dourland Road, West Yaphank Road and Gray Avenue in Medford. At the Dourland Road residence, Ruffin was also convicted for having no certificate of occupancy for changing the use of a shed into a cooking facility.

Three additional cases involving charges of no rental registration on Gray Avenue, Dourland Road  and Wilson Avenue are still to go to trial or no disposition has yet been reached.

“This sends a clear message to landlords Town wide. If you violate our housing codes, we will prosecute the case to the fullest extent of the law and you could find yourself in jail,” said Supervisor Ed Romaine in a release.