Niagara County Court jury returns guilty verdict in speakeasy case

Rick Pfeiffer -, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·2 min read

May 15—LOCKPORT — A Niagara County Court jury has delivered a mixed verdict in a five-year-old weapons and drug case against a Falls man.

The jury deliberated about a day and a half before finding Michael Brewer, 35, of the Falls, guilty on Tuesday of one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and a marijuana possession charge. The jury acquitted Brewer on two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and four drug possession charges.

All of the charges were tied to Brewer's alleged operation of a shuttered downtown speakeasy.

Brewer, who has previous state and federal weapons possession convictions, faces a minimum sentence of seven years and a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. Niagara County prosecutors said Tuesday they will seek to have Brewer sentenced as a "second felony offender."

This was the prosecutor's second attempt to try Brewer on charges stemming from an April 2019 raid on the Imperial Paradise Lounge in the 900 block of Niagara Avenue.

An earlier trial was scuttled in November when Niagara County Court Judge John Ottaviano granted the mistrial request as jury selection was underway. At that time, defense attorneys for Brewer convinced Ottaviano to grant a mistrial after they asked for additional time to review "materials that they said had come to light after the start of jury selection."

Those materials reportedly involved weapons possession allegations against Brewer in an unrelated case.

Brewer was indicted by a Niagara County grand jury in October 2019 on three counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, single counts of third-degree criminal possession of marijuana, and third- and fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, as well as four counts of misdemeanor drug possession following a raid by Falls Police Narcotics Intelligence Division (NID) detectives at the lounge where police said Brewer was serving alcohol without a liquor license and allowing the sale of drugs.

The police raid on the Imperial Paradise Lounge disrupted a popular "Ladies Night" party and came in response to complaints that the speakeasy was serving food without city or county permits and had been the scene of several fights and shootings. Detectives said they found three loaded handguns, nearly a pound of marijuana, almost six ounces of cocaine, a gram of fentanyl and a strip of the opioid medication Suboxone after searching the lounge.

At the time of the raid, in April 2019, NID detectives said they had responded, during the prior 18 months, to three assault calls, three assault with a weapon calls and one report of "shots fired" at the unlicensed bar. NID investigators said their confidential tip line had been flooded with complaint calls about the speakeasy.