Anchorage Daily News

An investor in Platinum Jaxx Bar & Grill used drug money to help start the business and pay for renovations inside, according to an indictment filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

Federal investigators say Platinum Jaxx investor Wallie Scott Vierra, conspired with five other people -- Attila Szabo, 35, of Vancouver, British Columbia; Steven Michael Roberts, 32, of Vancouver, Washington; Keith Harrington Edwards, 38, and Linda Rae Harrigan, 55, both of Anchorage; and Judy Carol Staffa, 62, of Manteca, California -- to import, grow and distribute 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, and to import the club drug ecstasy.

Vierra, who is already in jail on other drug charges, owns a quarter of the popular downtown night club, according to Jess Hepper, another owner. That portion can be seized by the government.

"It's one bad apple," Hepper said. "That shouldn't be a reflection on what Platinum Jaxx is. We haven't been facilitating his bad behavior. That was something he was doing without our knowledge."

There are four other owners aside from Vierra, who Hepper called a "silent partner."

The indictment says Vierra and the other people were involved in a scheme to grow marijuana and regularly ship it and ecstasy back and forth from Canada, stored in secret compartments in fuel tanks mounted in the back of pickup trucks.

They grew pot in Anchorage, and shipped roughly 100 pounds every two to six weeks between 2000 and 2007, the indictment said. Cash and drugs traveled regularly over the border in the secret compartments.

Vierra scheduled pickups and arranged payments, the indictment said. He used $200,000 in drug profits to invest in the club, and more cash to pay workers who did renovations there, according to investigators.

Vierra had two other businesses, Alaska Xtreme Ventures, a real estate business, and Grizzly Development, a construction business. Both functioned as fronts for the drug operation, according to federal prosecutor Frank Russo.

The investigation is ongoing, Russo said.

Find Julia O'Malley online at adn.com/contact/jomalley or call 257-4591.

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