He might have had better luck selling the Brooklyn Bridge...

November 17, 2007 -- A homeless Ivory Coast immigrant pleaded guilty yesterday to trying to steal a chic high-rise hotel.

Kouadio Kouassi, 47, has been jailed since last December, when he repeatedly tried to file phony deeds for the $76 million Soho Grand so that its ownership would be transferred to him.

He is expected to be sentenced to one year in prison for attempted grand larceny when he returns to Manhattan State Supreme Court on Nov. 30.

But since that is about as much time as he has already spent behind bars, Kouassi is likely to be released - and then face deportation.

City officials said they became suspicious when Kouassi filed documents last Nov. 22 claiming that the Hartz Group had turned over the 363-room hotel to him.

...or claiming that Bush stole his presidency...