Former Rockstar Burgers owner convicted of using KC restaurant for drug trafficking
The owner of former West Bottoms restaurant Rockstar Burgers pleaded guilty in federal court Wednesday to using the 24-hour eatery to aid a drug trafficking operation for nearly three years.
Brian Douglas Smith, 45, pleaded guilty to the charge of maintaining a drug-involved premises. He’s alleged to have helped distribute more than $1.7 million worth of drugs, including methamphetamine and heroin, according to Don Ledford, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri.
Smith allegedly made Rockstar Burgers available to a drug trafficking organization for the purpose of distributing more than 150 kilograms of methamphetamine and 10 kilograms of heroin, court documents said.
He is accused of allowing the operation to use the restaurant for storing drugs, collecting sales and a number of other activities including the possession, storage and use of firearms.
According to his plea agreement, Smith’s role was maintaining the building for the organization. He may face a $15,000 fine and up to 20 years in prison as part of his sentencing, court documents said.
Other defendants
Smith is one of 17 defendants who have pleaded guilty or plan on filing guilty pleas for charges related to the drug trafficking conspiracy.
Two other defendants have been sentenced.
Matthew John Fabulae of Kansas City was given 15 years in prison on March 14 and forced to forfeit $44,000 as a result of his role distributing methamphetamine. Another defendant, Amy Leann Nieman of Moorseville, will serve nine years in prison for drug trafficking and money-laundering charges, per her Feb. 25 sentencing.
The federal indictment alleges the defendants engaged in the drug conspiracy from Jan. 1, 2017, to Sept. 30, 2020.
Previous allegations
The closed West Bottoms restaurant previously came under scrutiny in 2019 because of rape and assault allegations against Smith.
In April 2019, a woman told Kansas City detectives that she had non-consensual sex with Smith after a night out drinking with him and his girlfriend. Smith revealed that he had video surveillance and witnesses of the interaction in November. Shortly after, a graphic video was posted to the restaurants online page, prompting outcries from community members, urging the restaurant to close.
Police raided the restaurant on Dec. 9, 2019. The following day they discovered video showing Smith shoving the victim to the ground, causing her to hit her head on a wooden desk, as she tried to defend herself.
Smith was charged with rape or attempted rape and first-degree assault or attempted assault in March of 2022. He also faced charges in 2020 of domestic assault in Platte County, after allegedly striking his girlfriend.
The restaurant, which opened in 2013, closed shortly before Smith’s arrest in his domestic violence case.
