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Portland Landlord's Jail Sentence Seen as 'Bad Move' by Some Other Landlords

PORTLAND, Maine - Some Southern Maine landlords say they are shocked by a 90-day jail sentence handed to Gregory Nisbet for a code violation related to the 2014 fire death of six people in a Portland multi-unit he owned.

Brit Vitalius, president of the Southern Maine Landlords' Association, says it's "terrifying," given that Nesbit never received formal notice of the violation.

"You can bet that landlords are going to start selling their buildings because they don't want to deal with this kind of liability, or you're going to see a lot of holes being cut in the sides of buildings," Vitalius says. "We've got all sorts of challenges with this old housing stock. And this was a very bad move on the judge's part."

Superior Court Justice Thomas Warren threw out manslaughter charges but did find that windows in the building's renovated third floor were too small to provide an emergency escape route.  It's a misdemeanor, and prosecutors argued Nesbit should get the maximum penalty of 180 days in jail, in part to send a message to landlords.

Justice Warren opted for a 90-day penalty with a $1,000 fine.

A Columbia University graduate, Fred began his journalism career as a print reporter in Vermont, then came to Maine Public in 2001 as its political reporter, as well as serving as a host for a variety of Maine Public Radio and Maine Public Television programs. Fred later went on to become news director for New England Public Radio in Western Massachusetts and worked as a freelancer for National Public Radio and a number of regional public radio stations, including WBUR in Boston and NHPR in New Hampshire.