The city of Kent has filed 15 misdemeanor charges against two owners of the Golden Steer restaurant for allegedly buying and selling stolen alcohol and catfish during an undercover police operation that included three controlled purchases over a four-week period.
The case began after an investigator with the Fred Meyer (Kroger) Organized Retail Crime unit contacted Kent Police that the restaurant, 23826 104th Ave. SE., was reportedly known to be purchasing stolen alcohol bottles from the store, according to Kent Municipal Court documents.
Mohammed Alsadi, 33, of Kent, faces one count of second-degree criminal solicitation of possession of stolen property; three counts of third-degree criminal solicitation of possession of stolen property; four counts of buying liquor illegally; and one count of business operation without a general business license.
Widad Defar, 35, of Federal Way, faces three counts of third-degree criminal solicitation of possession of stolen property and three counts of buying liquor illegally.
Alsadi and Defar were booked Oct. 15 into the city of Kent Correctional Facility and released later that day, according to Kent Police. They are likely to be arraigned on the charges in November, according to City Attorney Tammy White.
Most of the charges have maximum penalties of 90 days in jail and $1,000 fines, according to White. Alsadi’s charge of second-degree criminal solicitation has a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.
The owners bought the Golden Steer in December 2023 under the name of Delightful Dining LLC, according to state Department of Revenue documents.
Case details
An employee with the Kroger (Fred Meyer) Organized Retail Crime unit first met with Kent Police in July after they had received information that Golden Steer Steak ‘n Seafood restaurant was purchasing stolen alcohol bottles, reportedly taken from the Fred Meyer store at 10201 SE 240th St., according to probable cause documents. Kroger permanently closed that location Oct. 17.
The store’s retail crime unit received a tip that Golden Steer would buy stolen alcohol. That led to two employees from the store’s retail crime unit to conduct an undercover investigation Aug. 14 at the restaurant, according to court documents. They reportedly sold four bottles of liquor, one each of Patron, Grey Goose, Tito’s and Captain Morgan for $80 to the owner. A Fred Meyer receipt showed the liquor valued at $143.
A Fred Meyer investigator turned over to police a Facebook photo of the couple that they said matched the man and woman they met with at the restaurant.
Police then worked with Fred Meyer to set up three controlled buys, according to court documents.
1st buy Sept. 17
An officer organized an alcohol sale operation for the first controlled buy. Fred Meyer provided two bottles of Patron tequila, four bottles of Hennessy, two bottle of Grey Goose vodka and one bottle of Tito’s vodka. Unique identifying marks were placed on the bottles, according to court documents. Additionally, the 1.75 L bottle of Tito’s had an anti-theft device still attached to the cap.
An officer and Fred Meyer crime task force employee arrived in an unmarked vehicle and parked on the north side of the building, where the entrance to the banquet hall was. Golden Steer reportedly paid $100 cash for the nine bottles.
Communication continued through text messages between an undercover officer and Alsadi, who allegedly asked for 30 bottles or more of alcohol, steak, wings and catfish once he heard the Fred Meyer connection could bring him more items.
2nd buy Sept. 24
Fred Meyer provided for the second controlled buy three 12 packs of Corona beer, three 12 packs of Modelo beer, four 12 packs of Heineken beer, six bottles of Hennessy and six 1.75 L (aka “horns”) of Tito’s vodka. An officer marked the 12 bottles of hard liquor.
An undercover officer met with Defar, the wife of Alsadi, according to court documents. Defar and Alsadi were married in November 2024, but their driver’s licenses to identify them listed Federal Way as the home address of Defar and Kent for the home address of Alsadi.
The undercover officer brought the alcohol in through the main entrance of the restaurant. An employee helped carry the alcohol. Defar reportedly paid $300 cash for the alcohol.
3rd buy Oct. 14
More communication through text messages between an undercover officer and Alsadi led to a third controlled buy that included Hennessy and Tito’s (two cases each), four cases of Modelo, steaks, catfish and beef jerky, according to court documents. The officer said he wanted $900 for 48 bottles of booze plus beer and food and told Alsadi he almost got caught (shoplifting) a few times.
Fred Meyer ended up supplying Kent Police with the two cases of Hennessy, two cases of Tito’s vodka, four cases of Modelo beer and eight packages of frozen catfish.
An undercover officer parked on the east side of the Golden Steer and Alsadi reportedly came out to inspect the products. They agreed on a price of $800.
Search warrant served
The next day, Oct. 15, Kent Police executed a search warrant at Golden Steer approved by Kent Municipal Court Judge Michael Frans.
An officer interviewed Alsadi after reading him is Miranda Rights. Alsadi reportedly told the officer he would buy alcohol for his personal consumption, not for the restaurant. He said paying $20 for a bottle of Hennessy worth as much as $60 to $70 was reasonable because stores would put bottles on sale.
The officer told Alsadi the bottles he bought the previous night were from an undercover police officer. Officers took him into custody without incident.
An officer interviewed Defar at the scene. She said her husband typically buys alcohol from a Seattle liquor store. She said they would never buy from a normal person or another source. She said she manages the restaurant and denied buying alcohol for the business.
When told she had bought alcohol from police, Defar said she never asks questions and just pays for things. When told they had paid $800 for alcohol and other products worth over $3,000, she claimed she thought it was a company delivery.
Officers took Defar into custody without incident.
Among the items police reportedly seized from the restaurant during the execution of the search warrant were two large Hennessy cases and two large Tito’s cases from the Oct. 14 sale; and other bottles from previous sales. Some of the bottles were in the bar area, opened and with alcohol missing.
“It is abundantly clear, the Golden Steer was re-selling what they knew to be illegally purchased and stolen alcohol to their customer base,” according to court documents. “As, eight of these bottles were located on their restaurant bar shelves to be served and the bottles were open with alcohol clearly missing.”
All eight bags of catfish sold to the restaurant the previous night by an undercover officer reportedly were found in the walk-in freezer.
The Golden Steer first opened in Kent in 1964.
Talk to us
Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.
To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website https://www.kentreporter.com/submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.
Golden Steer restaurant, 23826 104th Ave. SE. COURTESY PHOTO, Golden Steer
