K.C. Rockstar Burgers owner pleads guilty to making business available to drug traffickers
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The owner of the Rockstar Burgers restaurant in Kansas City, Mo., has pleaded guilty in federal court to allowing his former restaurant building to be used in a drug trafficking conspiracy that is alleged to have distributed more than 150 kilograms of methamphetamine and more than 10 kilograms of heroin, valued at more than $1.7 million.
Brian Douglas Smith, 45, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark on Wednesday, Dec. 21, to maintaining a drug-involved premises.
By pleading guilty, Smith admitted that he made the building in the city’s West Bottoms, which housed Rock Star Burgers, his part-time residence, a loft, and associated spaces, available to a drug-trafficking organization. Smith knew the drug-trafficking organization used the building for storing and distributing methamphetamine, collecting for methamphetamine sales, and other methamphetamine distribution activities, including the possession, storage, and use of firearms.
Smith’s role, according to the plea agreement, was only in maintaining the building premises for the drug-trafficking organization’s use.
Smith is among 17 defendants in this case who have pleaded guilty or have guilty pleas scheduled. Two of those co-defendants have been sentenced and the rest await sentencing. One co-defendant is scheduled to go to trial on June 5, 2023.
Matthew John Fabulae, 33, of Kansas City, Mo., was sentenced on March 14, 2022, to 15 years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Fabulae to forfeit to the government $44,000 based on his distribution of at least five kilograms of methamphetamine during the conspiracy. Fabulae pleaded guilty to his role in the drug-trafficking and money-laundering conspiracies; he also pleaded guilty to one count of possessing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, one count of being a drug user in possession of a firearm, and one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute.
Amy Leann Nieman, 51, of Moorseville, Mo., was sentenced on Feb. 25, 2022, to nine years in federal prison without parole after pleading guilty to her role in the drug-trafficking and money-laundering conspiracies and to possessing firearms during a drug-trafficking crime.
Under federal statutes, Smith is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. Under the terms of his plea agreement, the government and Smith will recommend to the court that he pay a $15,000 fine in lieu of a money judgment or other financial assessments or forfeitures.