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By Miriam Raftery
December 31, 2023 (El Cajon) – The City of El Cajon has filed a lawsuit against former Councilman Bessmon “Ben” Kalasho and his wife, Jessica Deddeh, for allegedly failing to address numerous code violations at an unauthorized bed and breakfast at the couple’s residence, NBC 7 reports.
According to the City’s complaint, the El Cajon residence has been listed on the Trivagosite as “The HIstorical Chamber House in East San Diego with Optional Breakfast.” Code compliance officers found and photographed unpermitted construction of an outdoor stair, deck, and a second kitchen.
City code compliance investigators found violations on six visits from Sept.2019 to Jan.2022, the suite states. Multiple warning letters were sent and fines were levied, reaching $2,000 per day. The total is now approximately $1.4 million.
The City is asking for injunctive relief including removing the unpermitted dwelling unit and movable properties within it sold under supervision of a court-appointed receiver. If rents and proceeds of selling the movable items do not cover the amount owed, the city asks the court to order that the home be sold.
Kalasho and his wife are already fugitives from justice, having refused to return to San Diego from North Carolina, where Kalasho has been working as a chef, following contempt of court in another civil suit. Attorney Lina Charry won her defamation case against Kalasho and his wife, but the couple repeatedly failed to provide financial documentation to enable Charry to collect on that judgment.
After a Superior Court judge in San Diego took the rare step of ordering the couple jailed for eight days on criminal contempt counts, the couple defied an order to surrender and failed to appear in August.
The Kalashos have most recently been living in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, according to documents filed by their attorney, Kevin Limieux, in the Charry case. Ben Kalasho has been working as a chef at Smithmore Castle, a bed and breakfast inn there, according to his website, his Linked in page, and an article published by Business Insider.
Kalasho resigned in disgrace off the El Cajon Council in 2019, the day after a settlement was announced in a lawsuit filed by several people who accused Kalasho of defamation. A Miss Middle East beauty pageant contestant accused Kalasho of superimposing her face on someone else’s nude body in social media posts. Another contestant in the pageant run by Kalasho’s now defunct Chaldean chamber of commerce claimed he offeredto trade sex for the crown. A third plaintiff, a taco shop owner who refused to let Kalasho post campaign signs on his property, claimed Kalasho retaliated by posting a fake poll rating the taco shop the worst in El Cajon, but that all the votes were made by aliases Kalasho set up online.
Kalasho has repeatedly refused to respond to inquires from East County Magazine and demanded that our media outlet no longer contact him. He also failed to respond to efforts by ECM news partner NBC 7 regarding the City’s lawsuit.
Comments
They are likely out of state.
That would require an extradition notice but funny how there seems to be no such delay with other prominent criminal cases--San Diego recently extradited a Campo fugitive to Florida in a high-profile case.
Has our Sheriff even asked North Carolina to arrest and extradite Kalasho and his wife?
Or perhaps they have, and the couple has moved on again.
Well