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Article about SOUND FACTORY!!
Police raid club
By Christine Armario and Daryl Khan
Staff Writer
Police and federal agents charged the owner of a popular midtown nightclub Sunday with promoting the sale and use of "club drugs" like ecstasy.
Authorities raided the "Sound Factory" early Sunday morning, arresting the club's owner, Richard Grant, and two members of his security staff, Ronald Coffiel and Randell Rogiers. According to the indictment, they face charges of conspiring to admit the sale of club drugs. On two occassions, patrons died from overdoses, police said.
The so-called "stash house" charge is typically used in smaller busts, said David Kelley, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. "Nothing of such large magnitude on a commercial level," he said.
The suspects are scheduled to be arraigned later Monday afternoon in Federal Court.
Police claim that Grant became a millionaire as a result of the club's relaxed drug policy. They estimate that the club grossed $120,000 at the weekly Saturday night party. "They chose dollars over decency while people were passing out at their feet and dying at the club," said Kelley.
In February 2003 Sound Factory was shut down but was reopened within a month after Grant agreed to take tougher measures against drug use.
According to Grant's attorney, Kenneth Aronson, the club began use of a drug-sniffing dog and posted "No Drugs" signs around the club.
Yet police said that rampant drug use began as soon as Sound Factory reopened its doors. Undercover officers purchased or seized narcotics inside the club on 10 different occasions within the last year.
In September, Michael Spano, 21, died after overdosing from drugs purchased at the club. Two other patrons died under similar circumstances since 2000, including Vincent Diamonte, 28.
"If the Pope ran the club you'd have the same problem," said Aronson. "It's not because the pope is for drug dealing. It's because this (ecstasy) is the drug of choice in these clubs right now."
Police said the club was popular for its weekend parties, which began at 11 p.m. on Saturday nights and continued until 4 p.m. the following day.
Grant regularly attended the parties, where he would sit in a DJ booth that overlooked the main dance floor, according to police.
Police said that approximately 70% of the club goers were high during a typical party. The DJ himself was reported to have a bag of crystal meth for his own use in open view.
When patrons collapsed from intoxication, Police said they were taken to a different part of the club referred to as the "ICU unit." Sound Factory personnel would then "treat" overdosing customers by slapping and throwing cold water on them to make sure they stayed awake.
Early Sunday afternoon the club was empty, its doors covered with black metal gates, as families walked by after visiting the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, only a block away. The U.S. District Attorney's Office is looking to shut down the club, but whether or not it will be open during the criminal proceedings is unclear.
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you know they won't be going out of business anytime soon 
