Prison Term Set In Cocaine Case Ex-Restaurateur Also Forfeits Cash In Probe Tied To Operation Doughboy
A former Spokane restaurant owner faces 20 months in a federal prison and the forfeiture of almost $23,000 after he was caught selling cocaine a second time.
The case against 38-year-old businessman Michael A. Godwin, who ran Ristorante Spezia at 420 W. Francis, developed last year during Operation Doughboy cocaine busts. That series of arrests led to 37 convictions and resulted in Godwin pleading guilty to one count of distribution of cocaine. He was sentenced to prison Tuesday by senior U.S. District Judge Justin Quackenbush.
Under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, two other drug counts against Godwin will be dismissed.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Rice recommended an 18-month prison term, but the judge increased the sentence to 20 months.
He also fined Godwin $500 and placed him on three years of supervision after he gets out of prison.
Quackenbush noted that a background report showed that Godwin was arrested and convicted in 1981 of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, and was sentenced to six months in prison.
Godwin was arrested in 1981 with former boxing manager George H. Kutulas, who boasted at the time that he was the biggest cocaine dealer in Spokane. The two were convicted of drug-related offenses.
The two men later opened Ristorante Spezia at 420 W. Francis and obtained a state liquor license in 1991 over the strenuous objections of Liquor Board investigators.
Investigators say that as far back as May 1990, they had information that Godwin was selling cocaine out of his North Side Italian restaurant. It closed last year.
Federal authorities say the latest case against Godwin developed after Robert Dawson, a Doughboy suspect, told authorities he bought cocaine from Godwin.
After a conversation between Dawson and Godwin was secretly recorded, authorities obtained a warrant to search Godwin’s home at 3120 W. Circle Place.
There, members of the Spokane Regional Drug Task Force found $22,621 in cash, believed related to drug dealing. Rice said that money will be surrendered to the government as part of Godwin’s plea agreement.
Dawson bought 1-ounce quantities of cocaine from Godwin for $1,000 once or twice a week between November 1993 and October 1994, court documents say.
, DataTimes