Homeowner Pleads Guilty, Fined $15K For Illegal, 'Dangerously Overcrowded' Montauk Share House: Town

MONTAUK, NY — A Montauk homeowner who pleaded guilty Monday to allowing an illegal share house was fined $15,000, according to town officials.

According to a release from East Hampton Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell's office, Thomas Mahl, a homeowner on Beech Hollow Court in Montauk, pleaded guilty to 26 misdemeanor counts of violating the East Hampton town code for allowing an illegal share house to be operated from his property.

Town Justice Lisa Rana accepted the plea agreement and fined Mahl $15,000 in addition to ordering him to bring the property into compliance with the town’s building and zoning code, the release said.

Mahl’s tenant and co-defendant, Alina Gersham, had pleaded guilty to numerous misdemeanors and paid a $20,000 fine months earlier, the release said.

“Our town will not tolerate violations of our town code, especially those sections designed to protect the health, safety, and welfare of our single-family neighborhoods and community at large,” Cantwell said. “I commend our public safety department and our town attorneys for bringing this case to a successful conclusion and putting a stop to the use of this premises as a share house.”

Mahl was represented by Brian Matthews of Matthews, Kirst & Cooley, PLLC.

The town was represented by Assistant Town Attorneys Hope DeLauter and NancyLynn Thiele.

Public safety department personnel, with the assistance of the East Hampton Town Police, executed a search warrant on September 3, 2016, and found that the three-bedroom home was being occupied by 18 individuals, with people sleeping in the pool house, and an illegally converted basement, which lacked smoked detectors and adequate means of emergency egress, the town said.

“Beyond the disruption that this homeowner caused to his neighborhood, he and his tenant created a very dangerous condition that could have turned tragic in an instant. The substantial fines, and the agreed-upon rights of the town to return to inspect the property, shall ensure future compliance at this location and serve as a deterrent to any other property owners and tenants who choose illicit profits at the expense of public safety,” Cantwell said.

Matthews did not immediately respond to a request for comment.