STEUBENVILLE, Ohio — The owner of Club 106 in Steubenville, Ohio, was found in contempt of court after defying a court order prohibiting him from entering the building.
According to media partner Herald-Star, Derek Smith was 16 days shy of being allowed to enter the club legally when he entered the building and removed chairs he said he needed for another enterprise.
On Monday, Smith, 58, was found guilty in Jefferson County Common Pleas Court. Judge Joseph Bruzzese sentenced him to ten days in jail for the contempt charge, which amounted to the time he spent awaiting his hearing.
In 2023, it was alleged that Smith’s Club 106 sold liquor to undercover operatives without a license, which led to the club being shut down.
According to Herald-Star, Smith denied these allegations and told Bruzzese that those charges had been dismissed.
It is reported that Smith was found guilty in Steubenville Municipal Court in November 2023 of keeping a place where beer or intoxicating liquors were sold, furnished, or given away in violation of law, but a second charge—illegally selling alcohol—was dismissed.
Police warned Smith on Aug. 2 that he was risking arrest if he entered the Club 106 building while the court order was in effect, but police say he was defiant.
Herald-Star reports that a patrolman interacted with Smith several times on the day of the incident, advising him that he was not supposed to enter the building.
The officer told the court that Smith initially denied entering the building but then admitted to going in, stating that he needed to get some stuff out and would return later because he needed more stuff.
The officer testified that Smith said the Judge couldn’t force him not to go to his building.
Another Patrolman testified that Smith said the “ order was designed to stop the business, not me.”
According to Herald-Star, Smith testified that he followed the court order “except for that one night, and I needed those chairs.”
“It’s the city that keeps bringing up these petty complaints and gripes about me going in a building that I own … I needed some chairs, and I had to make a decision on the fly whether or not to go in the building that I owned to get the chairs that I needed or just placate some bruised egos. I don’t know what the problem is about me going in my own building. I admit that I went in and got the chairs … (because) I had to create another venue, because everything that I created, this city is trying to cut me off at every avenue. So I had to create something. I got a family to feed. My family’s going to win every time.”
According to Herald-Star, Smith told the Judge to just close Club 106, saying he would use the building for something else. Bruzzese reminded Smith that the one thing he could not legally do was dispense alcohol without a license.
It is reported that Bruzzese had issued a preliminary injunction in November 2023 suspending operations at Club 106 until Aug. 19, 2024, saying the good owner Derek Smith has done in his community is overshadowed by the violence in and around the club.
Bruzzese told Smith that the amount of good he has done in the community does not amount to a license to sell liquor, and “The violence that occurs at Club 106 is attributable more to the defendant’s clientele than to the defendant himself, but it attracts attention and keeps (the club) on law enforcement radar.”
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