CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Housing Court Judge Ron O’Leary sentenced Graig Brown, a man dubbed one of Cleveland’s most notorious landlords, to six months in jail Thursday.

Brown was convicted of failing to file what is called a certificate of disclosure in 2014, when he transferred a property he owned on East 142nd Street from Chinatairyoo Enterprises LLC to Kisoku LLC, both companies he was affiliated with, according to public records.

The sentence also included five years under the court’s supervision, a time during which O’Leary ordered Brown to repay some of what he owes for skirting criminal penalties, fees and legal judgments related to homes he rented to tenants, some in partnership with his brother Derek. Together, the two were known as the “Brown brothers.”

During that time, the court can supervise Brown’s activities as a landlord, officials said.

Brown, 47, had long eluded answering in court for nine criminal housing court cases involving his properties and for more than a dozen civil cases and judgments he owes to former tenants, including a $4 million civil judgment a federal judge ordered in 2016.

As a part of that case, which The Plain Dealer wrote about, a group of women tenants filed a civil lawsuit accusing the Brown brothers and their companies of violating federal fair housing laws by targeting female tenants for abuse and intimidation.

Brown finally appeared in housing court, officials said, because he was being held in jail for another case, one in which he was accused of assaulting a tenant in 2016.

He failed to show up for court multiple times in that case before pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge last week. Common Pleas Court Judge Michael Jackson sentenced him to probation.

In that case, he threatened a tenant and struck her in the back with a wooden bat before running down the driveway with the home’s electric meter.

Cleveland Housing Court Judge Ron O'Leary prepares to sentence Graig Brown for a misdemeanor charge of failing to file a certificate of disclosure required by the city when properties are transferred.

O’Leary rattled off a list of things he said courts found that Brown did as a landlord: illegally evicting tenants, threatening tenants with physical harm, stealing rent deposits, stealing tenant’s property, tampering with water or electric meters, renting out condemned homes, and gluing or nailing shut tenants’ doors.

The law, O’Leary said, doesn’t allow landlords to do any of those things.

In addition to his jail sentence and $1,000 fine, Brown’s probation, called community control, will require him to get permission from the court to act as a landlord in Cleveland or Bratenahl, where the court has jurisdiction; to complete 500 hours of work service starting in June; to register a property he owns on Southview Avenue with the city as a rental and get the home inspected; and to get on payment plans by Nov. 29 for any fines, city or back taxes he owes related to his properties.

Brown’s attorney Carlos Johnson objected to O’Leary taking into consideration other court cases and judgments related to Brown’s properties and the input of community members who spoke about the damage he’d caused to neighborhoods.

O’Leary said the property transfer violation Brown was convicted of was directly related to his activities as a landlord, which were under the purview of the court, including his pattern of transferring property between limited liability companies, or LLCs, to evade rules and court judgments.

Chief Housing Court Specialist Jerry Krakowski, who gave recommendations on Brown’s potential sentence, asked that he do the work service in neighborhoods where Brown had owned homes, some of which the city had to tear down.

Brown agreed on Monday to plead no contest in the case, though on Thursday he attempted to withdraw the plea and asked that the case be set for trial.

Johnson said the decision to agree to a plea was rushed because Brown thought it would allow him to get out of jail, where he’d been sitting because he was unable to post bond.

Brown, he said, wanted to be able to review the evidence the city planned to present, including deeds for the homes, which he said had signatures that didn’t look like his.

O’Leary denied that request. Johnson asked that he be assigned an attorney to help him appeal O’Leary’s decisions.

M. Anita Gardner, of Concerned Citizens Community Council, tells Judge Ron O'Leary about the deplorable conditions and treatment of tenants she witnessed over the years from Graig Brown and his brother Derek.

M. Anita Gardner of the Concerned Citizens Community Council has been assisting tenants and documenting actions of the Brown brothers since 2002, when they disabled the utilities of tenants in a building Graig Brown owned.

This was the first time she’d seen him appear in court to face punishment.

“I think this judge right now has really uplifted the community,” she said. “He’s given us a sigh of relief.”

Also in court were members of a community group called the Shaker Square Alliance, who said efforts to revitalize parts of the neighborhood were hampered by Brown’s ownership of properties, including a dilapidated building he owned for years on South Moreland Boulevard.

Brown’s properties “have done a great dereliction to our community efforts,” Charles Bromley said.