Smartie Artie's keeps liquor license for now

A popular bar and restaurant in Plum that came under fire earlier this year when a co-owner was arrested on charges of selling cocaine there can stay open, at least for now.

Smartie Artie's Restaurant & Back Room on Route 286 has received conditional approval from the state Liquor Control Board for the renewal of its liquor license effective Sunday. The bar's license was scheduled to expire on Saturday.

The conditional renewal is pending the disposition of both the criminal case against co-owner Joseph Sciullo and a Liquor Control Board citation filed against Smartie Artie's, LCB officials said Tuesday.

Sciullo, 43, of Justine Drive in Plum, and Frank Spena, 42, of Briar Ridge Drive in Turtle Creek, were arrested Jan. 9 by Plum police and the Allegheny County District Attorney Narcotics Enforcement Team. Drug transactions at the restaurant totaled $10,000, police said.

Sciullo and Spena last month waived preliminary hearings on multiple drug charges. The two are free on their own recognizance pending formal arraignment on the charges June 19.

The Allegheny County District Attorney's Office said yesterday that the case could go to trial by the end of the year.

Smartie Artie's last month received a two-count citation involving allegations of drug sales at the business.

According to a letter sent to Smartie Artie's from LCB licensing director David C. Martin, Smartie Artie's license could be revoked if Sciullo is convicted or pleads guilty to the drug charges, or if an administrative law judge finds the bar guilty of the liquor-code violations. Owners also could be fined $1,000 to $5,000.

Attorney Timothy Kidd, who represents Arthur Sciullo, Joseph Sciullo's father and co-owner of Smartie Artie's, said yesterday that the elder Sciullo is "pleased he's still doing business."

"He's in the deep end of the pool, but his head is still above water," Kidd said.

Mike Manko, spokesman for District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr., said there are no new developments in the nuisance-bar investigation.

Plum Mayor John Schmeck renewed his interest in seeing the bar closed. But the mayor said the bar's fate is out of his control.

"It's out of my hands," Schmeck said yesterday. "It's in the hands of the district attorney, the LCB and other folks. My thoughts are the same. But we'll have to wait until the outcome of the trial."