One bar in Ohio certainly isn’t getting any stamps of approval from the Ohio liquor board.
Sharkey’s
Lounge, an adult entertainment club in Dayton, was stripped of its
liquor license last week after an investigation found the bar was
swapping food stamps for drugs and lap dances.
The Ohio Investigative Unit said in a news release
that Sharkey’s, also known as Twenty Two Fifty, Inc., had its permit
yanked Thursday after agents wrapped a five-month investigation.
The
investigation, which started in May 2017, found that agents were able
to exchange $2,404.87 in food stamps for a slew of drugs, including
heroin, fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamines, as well as lap dances.
“A
lot of drugs were brought into that community because of that location.
Children walk by there every day to go to school,” Agent-in-Charge
Michelle Thourot said in the release. “For a place like that to be
closed down, to not have people like that coming into the community, is
fantastic for the kids and the people living in that area.”
Charges filed against employees and patrons include drug trafficking, food stamp trafficking and illegal sexual activity.
Meanwhile,
the Liquor Control Commission also heard 44 administrative charges
filed by agents, including drug possession, drug sales, engaging in
sexual activity and food stamp trafficking and solicitation.
