Folsom bar’s license suspended after cocaine sting; owners unaware of activities
After more than 30 years of pouring drinks in Folsom, the taps at City Slickers have run dry.
The state indefinitely suspended the bar’s liquor license following allegations that a former bartender helped facilitate cocaine sales on-site. The owners — Michelle Morgan and her husband, Dustin — said they were unaware of the former employee’s actions. They said the forced transition to a nonalcoholic menu has triggered a 90% decline in sales.
Morgan’s father, Dennis Dority, opened the original City Slickers bar — with a restaurant component — in the mid-90s when she was 14 years old. She grew up talking to customers, working as a cleaner and server before eventually taking the reins.
About 10 years later, Morgan joined her father in running the business. The bar remained at its original location, 97 Natoma St., until 2018 — the year after Dority died — when it moved and rebranded as Folsom State Slickers. Morgan said customers still referred to the business as City Slickers. Her husband joined the business in 2018.
Today, Morgan said the bar, now at 705 Gold Lake Drive, Suite 200, has a close-knit community, including relatives who work there and regular customers the family knew before City Slickers opened.
“We are the definitive family bar. That’s what people call us,” she said. “We have regulars that have known me since I was in my mom’s stomach.”
While Morgan takes pride in the bar’s family-owned culture, the business hit bumps along the way. In 2018, the Sacramento Business Journal reported the bar’s move stemmed from an eviction after rent increases. It made headlines again last June when Folsom police say a fight broke out at a fundraiser the bar hosted, resulting in a fatality the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office classified as a homicide.
“It was an unfortunate incident that occurred,” Morgan said. “We did life-saving procedures. The manager immediately called 911.”
City Slickers serves new faces and regulars alike. Bartenders, like Jennifer Calandrino, can earn around $6,000 a month between tips and their hourly wage. That changed May 5 when the bar’s liquor license was suspended by the California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
When asked about the suspension, an ABC spokesperson referenced a law that states a license can be revoked if a license holder “knowingly permitted” controlled substance sales. The Morgans say they were unaware of the cocaine sales, a claim supported by investigation reports provided to City Slickers and reviewed by The Sacramento Bee that do not implicate the owners or any current employees.
The suspension is possible because the law considers repeat sales as evidence of “permission” by the licensee, which Morgan said is a policy she believes should be changed.
“We watch the cameras when we’re not there and, if we see weird things, we call and text staff,” she said. “But obviously we can’t watch the cameras and be there all the time.
“We trusted people we shouldn’t have.”
The cocaine investigation
Investigators from ABC started looking into narcotics sales at City Slickers after it received a tip. The state agency didn’t say from where the tip originated.
When following up on the tip, undercover ABC agents visited the establishment on six occasions before first meeting the bartender and a patron the bartender knew. The parties interacted four times after that until the duo was arrested on Dec. 18 on suspicion of possessing a controlled substance and selling a controlled substance.
“On three occasions during the investigation, from August 2025 to December 2025, undercover ABC agents purchased cocaine from a City Slickers patron, facilitated by a City Slickers bartender,” ABC spokesperson Devin Blankenship wrote in an email.
Agents didn’t purchase any cocaine during the first six visits, according to an investigation report, but during one of the visits observed a man in the bathroom with what appeared to be cocaine.
It wasn’t until the seventh visit that ABC agents say they bought cocaine, according to an investigation report. The agents purchased drinks from the bartender before asking him if he knew where to get cocaine. The bartender then introduced a patron who, ABC said in its report, sold drugs to the officers at the bar.
The agents got drinks from the same bartender again less than a month later, according to the report. When they were at the bar during their eighth visit, the patron who sold them drugs the first time was also there. Agents again purchased drugs from this patron, but the report doesn’t disclose if the bartender was involved in the sale.
During ABC agents’ next visit the same bartender and patron entered the bar at the same time, according to the report. Another employee took orders from the bartender’s group. The owners say the bartender wasn’t working that day. During that ninth visit, ABC agents say the bartender went behind the counter to prepare a drink for a customer, signaling to him that he was “acting in the capacity of an employee.”
Investigators spoke to the same bartender and patron that same evening when the duo approached the bar to order drinks, according to the report. Agents say the patron who sold cocaine on the other instances told the agents to give the money to the same bartender. The duo went to the bathroom and ABC agents say the same bartender returned with cocaine.
The next time ABC agents interacted with that bartender and patron was the day they were arrested, according to the report. Investigators say they purchased cocaine from the same patron at his home before arresting him. Meanwhile, Morgan said, the bartender was arrested at the business that same day.
Records reviewed by The Bee did not include a summary of the bartender’s arrest on Dec. 18. The Bee requested a full investigation report from ABC and was awaiting response.
What’s next?
The bar operated with its liquor license for nearly six months after the arrests, according to Morgan.
Folsom State Slickers is looking to attract different types of customers now that it can’t serve alcohol, according to Morgan. It gave out free flowers on Mother’s Day and has a murder mystery event planned for May 27.
“We’re trying to come up with new ideas and go after a different crowd,” she said. “We’re trying to conjure up anything to get people in here.”
Morgan is also tasked with helping employees, like Calandrino, who is a mother of six, get by with reduced tips. Calandrino said the owners are working hard to keep their staff but even though management works to guarantee at least 40% of their previous income, it puts her in a tough position.
“It’s a huge knock to our lives,” she said.
Leading up to the drug bust, Calandrino said her employer made it clear that drugs were not allowed in the bar.
Despite the indefinite suspension, alcohol could again be served on the premises if the liquor license is transferred to a new owner. Morgan has already identified a buyer, who agreed on the sale conditions. They are in the process of transferring the liquor license, she said.
The identity of the potential buyer has not been announced, but Morgan said much of City Slickers is expected to remain the same, including the staff and a portrait of her father on the wall.
This story was originally published May 14, 2026 at 3:26 PM.
