Club Chocolate City manager charged with selling cocaine

Last Saturday's Seattle Times had an article that noted:

More than a year after a problematic East Madison Street bar was shuttered, the former manager has been charged in King County Superior Court with selling cocaine.

Darnell Parker, 48, could face 12 to 20 months in prison if convicted of one count of violating the Uniform Controlled Substances Act

The article also gave details of two other people convicted of drug dealing in the bar, one of which had been noted here.

The manager, Darnell Parker, had approached the Miller Park Neighborhood Association before he became the manager of the bar. He met with the neighborhood association a couple of times, and answered peoples' questions. This MNPA website page gives a flavor of peoples' views at the time, and this page documents some of the process of license renewal. Some neighbors were skeptical of his plans, others were in favor of giving him a chance to clean the place up. A Seattle Times guest columnist wrote about the neighborhood in 2003, including details about Mr. Parker's plans.

The picture shows Mr. Parker answering neighbors' questions during a subsequent (May 2004) visit to the neighborhood association: he was invited by Lt. Hayes, who is standing in the background.

Recall, BTW, that the other licensee of the club ( Ms. Helen Coleman ) has relocated and is in business on ML King Way.