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Date: 2004/09/18 Saturday Page: 022 Section: MORRIS Edition: MORRIS Size: 669 words

Law & Order

Landlord admits he ran illegal rooming house

MORRISTOWN:

A landlord pleaded guilty yesterday in municipal court to operating an illegal rooming house after town code enforcement and zoning officials found 17 people living in a single-family home in June, the town's zoning officer and the landlord's attorney said.

Sergio Albarracin was fined $6,400 and told he faces going to jail for up to 295 days if there are further violations, said his attorney James Porfido.

The house must be restored to single-family use by Monday, said Zoning Officer John Fugger. That means Albarracin has to remove a kitchen from the basement, individual locks from the doors and refrigerators from the bedrooms inside the Walker Avenue dwelling. He also was sentenced to serve five days on the Sheriff's Labor Assistance Program, Fugger said.

"He understands he has an obligation to do the work," Porfido said.