Were criminal charges filed amid the City Slickers cocaine sting? What to know
A longtime Folsom bar has been prohibited from serving alcohol after a California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control investigation determined a former bartender helped facilitate drug sales on-site.
Investigators say they visited the Folsom State Slickers, also known as City Slickers, six times before the bartender, Arturo Gomez, introduced agents to a patron, Terrell Hill, who then sold the agents cocaine at the bar on three additional occasions, according to investigation reports. The reports state the patron directly executed two of the three sales while the bartender directly executed the other.
The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office filed charges in December against Gomez and Hill. Gomez faces two felony counts of transportation, sale and distribution of controlled substance while Hill faces four counts of the same charge, according to a DA Office spokesperson Shelly Orio. As of Tuesday, charges are not filed against the owners.
City Slickers owners Michelle and Dustin Morgan say they were unaware of the reported cocaine sales. Investigation reports reviewed by The Sacramento Bee do not implicate the Morgans or any current employees.
“We watch the cameras when we’re not there and, if we see weird things, we call and text staff,” Michelle Morgan said. “But obviously we can’t watch the cameras and be there all the time. “We trusted people we shouldn’t have.”
Even though the owners weren’t implicated in the ABC investigation reports, their license was indefinitely suspended on May 5 because the sales happened more than once. With current California law, repeat on-site drug sales counts as license owner permission to sell drugs.
Michelle Morgan said she and her husband try to keep tabs on the bar as much as possible, monitoring it in-person, by camera and reminding staff that drugs aren’t allowed on-site.
Alcohol can be served at the bar again if the liquor license is transferred to a new owner. Morgan previously said a buyer has been identified and a license transfer is in the works.
City Slickers has seen a 90% drop in sales after the incident left the bar a dry menu. The owners aim to keep business by implementing new strategies like a movie night. Information about future City Slickers’ programming can be found on its Facebook page.
