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Landlord's Injuries Might Delay Restitution

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 25, 2007

TAMPA - Multimillionaire real estate investor Steven Green is unable to make his own financial decisions because of extensive brain injuries he suffered when he was hit by a car in May, according to pleadings filed in his federal criminal case Wednesday.

The notorious landlord, once considered one of Hillsborough County's worst, was sentenced in February to 33 months in federal prison on charges of tax evasion and fraud. He also was ordered to pay more than $4 million in restitution to Wells Fargo Bank.

The start of Green's sentence was delayed to give him time to get his affairs in order. Before he reported to prison, he was hit by a car outside a New York nightclub and has been hospitalized since.

His attorney, Edward M. Kratt, filed a motion Wednesday asking for an extension of time for Green to pay the restitution.

Kratt writes in his motion that Green's mother, Mary, has gone to court seeking to be appointed guardian of his personal affairs.

At the moment, Mary Green is legally empowered only to make emergency financial decisions and cannot make her son's restitution payment, Kratt wrote. Mary Green should be able to arrange for the payment within six months, the motion says.

The attorney attached to the motion a letter from physician Steven R. Flanagan, who wrote that Steven Green is at Mount Sinai Medical Center being treated for 'severe physical and cognitive impairment resulting from severe traumatic brain injury.'

Green's impairments are in the area of 'attention, concentration, memory, processing speed and executive skills,' the doctor wrote. 'He is incapable of making medical or financial decisions at this time and likely will not be able to for at least another six months ... his disabilities will most likely be permanent.'

Green also is 'incapable of caring for himself and relies on others for all forms of mobility and completion of activities of daily living,' Flanagan's letter states.

Green's condition has had an adverse effect on his business holdings and has reduced his 'accessible liquid assets,' the defense motion states.

According to court filings, Green was in a coma for 40 days.

An earlier court filing, written when Green was still in a coma, said the defendant was unresponsive and 'likely to die.'

A car struck Green as he left the Posh Bar in New York and was walking across the street to get to his car, according to a police report.

Once one of Tampa's worst code violators for low-income housing, Green was ordered as part of his sentence to pay the restitution to the bank he defrauded by using a false Social Security number on a $9 million mortgage application for the once-condemned Amberwood apartment complex on North Florida Avenue.

The court also ordered Green to pay a $10,000 fine and serve three years of probation after he completes his prison sentence.

A prosecutor said at his sentencing hearing that Green's net worth is $77 million and he uses a private jet to travel the country.

Seeking to discredit Green's portrayal in the media as a slumlord, defense attorneys said at the hearing that Green took substandard housing and made it livable. Green has said he hates to fly and has the jet out of necessity.

He told the judge he donates the jet to a charity that flies sick children for medical treatment.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com.

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