The city of Springfield shut down El Morro restaurant after the owner's husband was arrested and accused of being a leader of a heroin distribution ring.
SPRINGFIELD — Mayor Domenic J. Sarno urged the License Commission on Thursday to reject a food service license for the El Morro bakery and restaurant on Page Boulevard, closed the past month after the owner’s husband was arrested and accused of being the leader of a $3 million New York City to Greater Springfield heroin ring.
Vanessa Martinez, a lawyer for the restaurant, said in response that the wife, Neidy Cruz, is the sole owner, not her husband. In addition, she said the restaurant had nothing to do with the drug investigation and charges.
“Our position is the sole owner of the restaurant and the manager is, and always has been, Neidy Cruz,” Martinez said, who attended the hearing with Cruz. “She has been in no way implicated in the criminal case against her husband.”
Cruz’s husband, Luis Cotto, and five other Springfield men, were arrested in late May by federal agents and local police and charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and aiding and abetting. The city issued a cease and desist order a few days later, forcing El Morro to close, after it was discovered the restaurant did not have a food service (common victualler) license.
Sarno, in a letter Thursday, wrote: “This is an ongoing federal investigation and it remains unclear if Mr. Cotto was utilizing this establishment in relation to drug-related activities. As such, it would not be in the public interest to approve this establishment until the investigation has been concluded.”
Cotto was referred to as the owner of El Morro Restaurant, in the May report of his arrest. Sarno stated in his letter that upon booking on the charges, Cotto identified himself as manager of El Morro. James Clifford, a special agent with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, described Cotto and one of the other defendants as "top-level" distributors with a small convoy of vehicles with hidden, hydraulic "traps" or "hides" in their cars and minivans.
The commission, on a motion by member Orlando Ramos, directed Cruz to remove her husband’s name from the restaurant lease before the commission will consider approval of the common victualler license. Martinez said Cotto will be removed from the lease with the property owner.
The commission also directed Cruz to meet with the East Springfield Neighborhood Council and to notify abutters of the Aug. 15 commission hearing date, as conditions also recommended by Ramos.
“I sympathize with Ms. Cruz’ situation of having two children to provide for and several employees out of work,” said Peter L. Sygnator, chairman of the License Commission. “However, with the recent arrest of her husband as a major heroin trafficker, I agree with Commissioner Ramos’ position that this simple common victualler application deserves careful scrutiny. His recommendation that the abutting neighbors as well as the East Springfield Neighborhood Council provide input to the commission before we make a decision is an excellent idea. Hopefully, we will hear that on August 15th.”
Martinez said the restaurant has always been operated in full compliance with the law, including a Health Department license and certificate, with the one exception being the lack of the common victualler license.
According to Cruz, “it was purely an honest mistake” not to have the food license, and she thought she had all the required licenses to operate, Martinez said.
The restaurant opened last December.