An Augusta man was sentenced to 60 days in jail for failing to clean his property Thursday.
According to The Augusta Chronicle, Lester Grubbs was handed down the sentence after neglecting his property on Meadow Grove Road in Richmond County for nearly two years.
“I’m sick and tired of people in this community that can’t take care of their homes,” Judge H. Scott Allen told Grubbs.
The issue was brought to the attention of Richmond officials in October 2015, and they have checked the property frequently since then, the newspaper reported. No improvements were ever made, officals said.
Grubbs’ backyard pool had a torn liner, stagnant water and shrubs growing in it, according to The Chronicle. The grass in the front yard had grown to an estimated height of three feet. There were also piles of trash that gathered water throughout the property.
Officials deemed the property a “dangerous mosquito breeding ground.”
In June, Richmond County Mosquito Control official Fred Koehle collected samples of larvae from a vacuum cleaner dust cap on Grubbs’ back patio. Koehle discovered 154 Aedes Albopictus mosquitoes, the breed that are known to transmit pathogens and viruses such as yellow fever, the Usutu virus and Zika.
Koehle said he estimated more than 190 nearby residents were at risk of exposure to diseases because of the mosquitoes.
Allen said Grubbs could face criminal charges if a nearby resident contracted a disease because of exposure to his property.
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