After a nearly seven-year legal odyssey, a former Griffith gyros joint owner got 2.5 years probation Wednesday after a small bag of cocaine was sent with a cheese stick order.
They called the customer to ask for it back, who declined and called the cops. Her restaurant, Broad Street Gyros, shut down the next day.
Carrie Demoff, 55, of Calumet Township, declined to speak in court.
She pleaded guilty to maintaining a common nuisance, a Level 6 felony. She can later petition to reduce the charge to a misdemeanor.
Under the plea deal’s terms, she can’t operate a restaurant in Northwest Indiana during her probation.
“Can you do that,” Judge Gina Jones asked.
Her defense lawyer John Cantrell said it was fine, because it was “contractual.” Practically speaking, Demoff has since gotten another job and “didn’t anticipate needing it.”
Yes, but people can’t agree to illegal things, Jones said.
Sometimes prosecutors include terms that “makes them feel better about a compromise,” Cantrell responded.
Demoff had no prior criminal history, Deputy Prosecutor John Holmen said, as he asked Jones to accept the plea deal.
Cantrell claimed an employee was to blame. Demoff “accepted responsibility” by admitting her business harbored “drug activity.” Otherwise, she led a “law-abiding life,” he said.
“Something weird happened,” he said.
In exchange for her plea, prosecutors dropped attempted dealing in cocaine and possession of cocaine charges.
Cantrell noted the case took an “exceptionally long time to get here.”
Griffith police received a 911 call on Nov. 21, 2017 from a woman who said she’d “found narcotics in her food,” according to a probable cause affidavit. When an officer went to the house, the woman told him she’d just picked up her order from Broad Street Gyros, 105 N. Broad St., but had received a phone call from a restaurant employee asking her to bring back an order of cheese sticks, according to charging documents.
The officer said the woman found a plastic foam cup with a small plastic bag of white powder inside, which field-tested positive for cocaine, documents said. Detectives later confiscated video surveillance from the restaurant and sent it to the Indiana State Police to view, documents said.
According to court documents issued Jan. 25, 2018, Griffith Detective Lt. Kevin Strbjak said during a review of the surveillance video he saw Demoff leave the kitchen and cross the restaurant into its office before returning to the kitchen.
Once Demoff returned to the kitchen, she went to the preparation line and dropped something into a small white plastic foam container before sealing it, court records state.
Demoff kept the container in her possession before placing a clear plastic container of red sauce on top of it and putting both in a bag, the probable cause affidavit states. The bag was in view of the camera for approximately 20 minutes before it was put into another bag and given to the customer who reported the order to police, documents said.
Approximately 10 minutes after the customer who called police picked up the order, a man came into the restaurant, bypassed the cashier and spoke directly to Demoff, court records said. The man started counting out cash while a visibly upset Demoff can be seen “frantically making phone calls,” the records state.
Freelance reporter Michelle L. Quinn contributed.