El Paso Bar & Gym Owner Faces 99 Years in Prison for Drug Charges

You may have heard of Justin Kaufman before this. He was pretty adamant about going against County Judge Ricardo Samaniego's orders to shutdown bars and gyms in the city of El Paso. Well, apparently the legality of things is either a huge gray area for Kaufman or he just doesn't care. 

Kaufman, whose properties include Ratio One 61 gym, the El Paso Draft House, the Brass Monkey Sports Bar and the Back 9 Bar & Lounge, was arrested on numerous drug charges on Wednesday. The charges included an enhanced felony that could bring a rather large prison sentence.

There are 12 counts in all, including one count of manufacturing, which is the enhanced first-degree felony under Texas law. If convicted, Kaufman would be facing 10 to 99 years in prison. After the arrest, Kaufman eventually posted $85,100 bond.

Kaufman made national news not too long ago when he openly defied County Judge Samaniego's order to shutdown the city of El Paso for two weeks. When speaking of the shutdown, Kaufman said:

"We are boycotting, with the most respect due to health care workers and people affected by the virus," local entrepreneur Justin Kaufman said of his decision to keep his two gyms and five restaurants open. "We're on the verge of total collapse. Eight months is a long time to deal with this."

Of course, as we look at the number in El Paso, they continue to be huge. Just yesterday we had 3,100 new cases announced. The number today was down from that, but still incredibly high at almost 2,000 more new cases.