The liquor license for Pauly’s Nightclub in Stevenson was suspended Wednesday by the Washington State Liquor Control Board while police investigate an alleged drug trafficking organization operating out of the nightclub.
The emergency suspension at 47 Russell Ave. lasts for 180 days (until Nov. 30), as the agency works to revoke the business’s liquor license. This represents the only emergency liquor license suspension issued this year in Washington; last year, the Liquor Control Board issued two.
On four occasions between Feb. 16 and May 18, the owner of the nightclub, Paul Cenig, 35, of Stabler, and a bartender allegedly delivered marijuana to an informant working for the Skamania County Sheriff’s Office. Three of those buys happened at Pauly’s Nightclub, according to the Liquor Control Board.
Cenig and his former employee, Justin Sleeper, 40, of Stevenson, were arrested two weeks ago by sheriff’s deputies and Liquor Control Board agents.
Cengic was booked into the Skamania County Jail on suspicion of four counts of delivering marijuana, and Sleeper was booked on two counts of the same charge. Both have since posted bail.
