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Judge Again Delays Notorious Ex-Tampa Landlord's Prison Stay

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 31, 2008

Steven Green

TAMPA - Determining whether one of Hillsborough County's most notorious former landlords will ever go to prison has become a never-ending case, an exasperated federal judge said today.

Still, U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew granted another extension, giving Steven Green until March 13 to report to federal prison and giving his attorney time to see whether he can find a legal reason for suspending the 33-month incarceration altogether.

Bucklew sentenced Green in February 2007 after he pleaded guilty to tax evasion and fraud. He also was ordered to pay more than $4 million in restitution to Wells Fargo Bank.

Bucklew initially gave Green time to get his affairs in order before reporting to prison. Green then was hit by a car outside a New York nightclub in May 2007.

Since then, his attorneys have filed four successive requests for delays in his incarceration, citing his poor medical condition. His attorneys also have said his estate was having trouble complying with the restitution requirement because of the downturn in the real estate market.

Attorney Edward M. Kratt told Bucklew today he was hoping to have a videotape showing Green's condition but has run into trouble communicating with Green's mother, who is his legal guardian, and with obtaining the necessary waivers to record him at the nursing facility where he is being treated.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Mosakowski told Bucklew a court investigator did visit Green in the facility, the Northeast Center for Special Care, and confirmed he was there and was being treated. He was "in a wheel-chair and highly medicated and being spoon-fed," Mosakowski said. He was on a ward for violent or aggressive patients.

Mosakowski said he also spoke to a representative for the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and confirmed that the prison system can handle Green in his present state.

Kratt said Green's mental and physical condition has deteriorated significantly in the past year. "Neurologically, he began to develop violent behavior toward anybody who came in contact with him," Kratt said. This "resulted in an inability to have physical or cognitive therapy."

"I don't believe that Mr. Green should go to jail under his current conditions," the attorney said. He said there was no sign Green would improve. Prison officials, he said, have the attitude that "if a head is attached to a body, we'll take it." He said he asked officials, "Do you really want someone who is catatonic, someone who has violent tendencies and could put the staff at risk?" The response was no, he said.

The judge said that if there is no chance Green will get better, he might as well go to prison as soon as possible. She said she knew of no legal justification to suspend his sentence.

Still, she agreed to give Kratt time to try to get the video and some medical records and to further research the law.

Kratt said Green's financial condition has deteriorated as much as his physical condition. He has paid only $1.5 million of the $4 million restitution. Kratt presented testimony from an attorney for Green's real estate company that virtually all of his holdings are worth less than what is owed on them.

Bucklew and Mosakowski wanted more documentation. She instructed the attorneys to get together and find the necessary records and report back to her.

"Attempts by medical staff to feed or bathe him often result in Mr. Green punching or biting his caregivers and otherwise physically resisting said efforts," Kratt wrote. "Steven often shreds the bed linens with his teeth when frustrated. He must oft-times be physically restrained for his safety, as well as the safety of his caregivers.

"As a result of this compulsive, and seemingly involuntary behavior, no physical therapists have been found, to date, who are willing to work with him to provide for his physical, rehabilitative needs."

Green once was one of Tampa's worst code violators because of the low-income housing complexes he operated.

He defrauded Wells Fargo by using a false Social Security number on a $9 million mortgage application for the Amberwood apartment complex on North Florida Avenue.

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