Owners of the Star Market in North Nashville settle a criminal case

The owners of the shuttered Star Market are considering reopening their business after striking a deal with prosecutors that includes admitting their North Nashville store was a public nuisance.

Police padlocked the Star Market in June as prosecutors alleged the Buchanan Street market was a hotbed of crime, fighting and drug dealing.

In addition, prosecutors said Star Market owners Bolis Boktor and Basem Farag were running a criminal operation at another store they owned on Clarksville Pike. The men pleaded guilty Thursday to the crimes filed against them, but will not serve any jail time.

Star Market may reopen, the district attorney’s office says

As part of the deal with prosecutors, Boktor and Farag admitted that the Star Market was a public nuisance and agreed to “reduce the nuisance.”

“In other words, they promise that they will comply with all the terms of this order, and that they will, to the best of their ability, not allow any resumption of the fights, robberies, drug deals, shootings, etc. that led to the filing this petition. first and foremost,” Assistant District Attorney Paul DeWitt told Judge Steve Dozier on Thursday.

DeWitt said the men are considering reopening the store in the same or a similar form, with the understanding that they must adhere to the agreement they reached with the district attorney’s office and operate under close police supervision. If criminal activity resumes in the market, prosecutors plan to ask a court to order the property to be sold at public auction, lawyers said.

“They are walking a fine line as to whether they should tolerate a resumption of this type of activity,” DeWitt said after the legal proceedings ended Thursday.

After police closed the store in June, officials said officers had responded to the store more than 400 times in the past five years for gun violence, assault and other crimes.

Police Chief John Drake said police met with the store’s owners in August 2022 to encourage them to intervene in crimes in and around the business, but were unsuccessful.

Owners plead guilty in connection with operating another store

According to DeWitt, police found evidence that owners Boktor and Farag oversaw a shoplifting market where they bought stolen goods for pennies on the dollar and resold them at F&B Mart, the convenience store they owned on Clarksville Pike. F&B Mart has not been closed by the state and remains open.

As part of a plea agreement signed in court Thursday morning, Boktor and Farag wrote checks to the police department and Kroger, CVS and Lowe’s, where prosecutors say shoplifters stole goods to resell at F&B Mart.

Boktor and Farag also pleaded guilty Thursday to two of the three criminal charges against them, while each of their money laundering charges, the most serious they faced, was dropped. The men agreed to serve a two-year deferred sentence — a sentence similar to probation, except the charge is dropped once it expires — for attempted theft of property and organized retail crime charges.

“Keep in mind that the police are getting over $440,000 from these two guys. They are getting $341,000 that was in a bank account that was primarily used to launder money, and they are getting $100,000, which represents the cost of the entire investigation.” DeWitt said. “I don’t think the defendants are at the forefront of this. I think the police, but more importantly the community, are at the forefront of this.”

Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at [email protected] or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMe A left.