Notorious Sacramento Slumlord Gets 12 Years In Prison

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - A Sacramento slumlord who for years made life miserable for neighbors, code enforcement officers and anyone else who crossed him drew a 12-year prison sentence Friday.

Raghvendra "Raj" Singh, 57, has a long history of bad behavior including frivolous lawsuits, illegal marijuana cultivation, unpaid taxes and a fire at a boarded-up house that killed a woman who was paying him rent. But what is ultimately sending him to prison is a 16-count felony conviction last month for forgery, fraud and conspiracy involving a nuisance house in Elk Grove and a 90-million dollar lawsuit he filed against the neighborhood watch captain who tried to call him on it.

READ MORE: Elk Grove 'Hell House' Sells for $60K Over Asking Price

Nate Champion choked up in court as he recounted the tremendous strain on his family caused by the three-year battle with Singh. Champion is a helicopter pilot with the California Army National Guard and said a stress-related medical condition had grounded him.

Singh sat passively during Champion's victim impact statement and made no attempt at expressing remorse or offering an apology when given the chance by Judge Michael Sweet. Champion is entitled to restitution for his time and expenses but said he doesn't ever expect to see any money from Singh.

"(12 years) is probably the most the judge can give him," Champion said after the hearing. "I still wish there was more."

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Sacramento County Deputy District Attorney Leslie Kolb works in the community prosecution unit which deals with quality-of-life crimes– and chose to take on the Singh case after discussions with people who'd had unhappy encounters with Singh.

"I just kept hearing from all our community partners about this 'Raj Singh' guy and how he was doing all of these really bad things," she said.

As it turns out the Singh case is the veteran prosecutor's last before her retirement at the end of this month.

"And I can't imagine retiring on a better note than sending Mr. Singh to prison for 12 years," she said with a smile. "Justice has been done."

Singh's wife, Kiran Rawat, will be sentenced March 24 to 60 days in jail for her role in the fraud. The plea bargain requires her to surrender all of the couple's properties in Sacramento, El Dorado and Placer Counties to a court-appointed receiver, who will then try to sell them to recover at least some of the money the Singhs owe.

An official schedule of properties is pending, but CBS13 has independently compiled a list of more than two dozen properties that might be included:

In:
• Elk Grove