5 bartenders charged alongside owner of illegal Homewood speakeasy

The secret to Club Secrets was a couple $20 bills.

Twenty dollars would get you onto the first floor of the illegal Homewood speakeasy busted this week by state liquor control agents. For $40, you could go to the second floor of the Kelly Street establishment.

The secret, however, is out after two undercover agents with the state Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement made five visits over the course of two months late last year, according to the criminal complaint against the owner of the illegal club, 34-year-old Sean “Nitty” Reese.

The last visit was with a search warrant and back-up, resulting in a raid that turned up 12 gallons of liquor, 40 gallons of malt and brewed drinks, and more than $3,000 in cash.

The sign out front offered two prices, the undercover agents observed on their first visit to the club Oct. 25: $20 admission and $40 for VIP, according to the complaint.

At the first-floor bar, the officers were served by a woman later identified as Markisha Leonard, according to the complaint. The officers said they ordered a shot of Hennessy, a shot of Amsterdam and two cans of Budweiser, which Leonard brought them.

The agents said about 25 people were at the bar that night.

The agents returned both together and separately three more times on Nov. 23, Dec. 7 and Dec. 14, identifying several more bartenders along the way, including Ajalay Sayles, Markia Jones and Tosh-shay Moore. On the last visit, one of the agents arrived about 1:45 a.m. and paid $40 for access to the second floor, according to the complaint.

Upstairs, a bartender identified as Taronda Brown served the agent a Crown Apple Whisky on ice and a Heineken, according to the complaint.

Later that day, agents raided and searched the club, which is when they seized the cash, liquor and other alcohol, according to the complaint.

Moore, Sayles and Brown declined to give full statements to police, investigators said. Moore said she’d been working at the club for about a month, while Sayles said she’d worked there and been paid by Reese for about two years. Brown, police said, gave no statement.

Police said the Liquor Control Board confirmed that Reese did not have a liquor license for the club.

Reese is charged with 12 counts of illegally selling alcohol, all of which are misdemeanors.

Jones, Moore, Brown and Sayles all face two counts of illegally selling alcohol.