NEW YORK CITY, New York: A New York City man who lived rent-free for years in Manhattan's New Yorker Hotel, then attempted to claim its ownership, has pleaded guilty to fraud.

This ended a lengthy legal saga involving an obscure tenant law that allowed him to stay there for years without paying rent.

Mickey Barreto admitted this week that he had forged property records to take ownership of the hotel. And he almost succeeded.

Barreto said that in 2018, he and his boyfriend paid US$200 to rent one of the more than 1,000 rooms in the tall, famous Art Deco hotel. After staying one night, Barreto asked for a lease. He argued that because the building was built before 1969, a city housing law gave him certain rights as a single-room occupant.

When the hotel refused, he went to housing court. The hotel did not send a lawyer to an important hearing, and the judge gave Barreto "possession" of the room.

But prosecutors in Manhattan said Barreto went further. They said he committed fraud by uploading a fake property document to a city website, claiming he owned the entire building.

The Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity owns the hotel. Sun Myung Moon, who called himself a messiah, founded the hotel in South Korea. The church did not reply to requests for comment.

Prosecutors said Barreto then tried to collect rent from a hotel tenant and asked the hotel's bank to transfer its money to him.

In 2024, he was removed from the hotel and charged with several serious fraud crimes. Later, a court found he was not mentally fit to stand trial and ordered psychiatric treatment.

As part of a plea deal, Barreto received a six-month prison sentence, which he had already completed, and five years of probation, according to the Manhattan district attorney's office.

Earlier, Barreto told the Associated Press that the judge's decision giving him possession of his room also effectively gave him the whole building because it had never been officially divided into separate units.

"I never intended to commit any fraud. I don't believe I ever committed any fraud," Barreto said at the time. "And I never made a penny out of this."