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Former owner of Tampa’s shuttered Southern Nights bar sentenced to federal prison after child sex crimes plea
['Chloe Greenberg']
Creative Loafing Tampa
Husbands Richard Kowalczyck and Eric Patrick have been sentenced to 14 years and 10 years in federal prison, respectively, District Judge Carlos Mendoza announced Friday in federal court in Orlando.
At the time of their arrest, Kowalczyk owned Orlando nightspots Southern Nights, District Dive and Stiffy’s.
Patrick, a former Gotha Middle School teacher, pleaded guilty in an Orlando courtroom Feb. 9 to attempting to entice a 15-year-old, according to his plea agreement.
Because both men pleaded guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, their other charges — for conspiracy and the distribution of child pornography — were dismissed.
The indictment said Kowalczyk participated in conversations on private messaging platform Telegram that go back as far as 2019.