Nightclub Owner, Former NBA Player, Convicted of Drug Sales

A Silver Spring nightclub owner and former NBA player will spend two years in prison for drug trafficking, and must give up his ownership of the restaurant, which prosecutors say was opened using drug money.

Jason Miskiri, 40, of Silver Spring was sentenced Tuesday to two years in prison followed by three years of supervised release for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. As part of the sentence, Miskiri must forfeit all of his interest in Society Lounge, an upscale nightclub on Georgia Avenue.

The downtown restaurant’s website still has a page devoted to Miskiri’s achievements and community involvement. It notes that the former Montgomery Blair High School athlete later played in the NBA before returning home to open the club that boasts fine food, music and a dress code.

Miskiri, who played college ball at George Mason University, had a short NBA career. He played for three minutes in one game for the Charlotte Hornets before he was sidelined for good by a back injury.

According to his plea agreement and court documents, Miskiri obtained marijuana from several sources for distribution in Maryland. Miskiri was arrested in March 2009 in Texas after purchasing 209 pounds of marijuana that he intended to transport to Maryland.

Miskiri was also the largest customer of a drug trafficking organization headed by Garfield Mullings of Hyattsville that shipped large quantities of marijuana from California to Maryland.

On numerous occasions from 2010 to 2012, Miskiri bought marijuana, which was sent to the former Island Flavors Restaurant in Laurel, which he owned and operated.

Miskiri did not file a personal tax return for any of the years in which he was engaged in the drug trafficking activity, authorities say. He was found to be responsible for the distribution of between 3,000 and 10,000 kilograms of marijuana.

In a separate case, Mullings and five others previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana. Mullings was sentenced in May 2014 to five years in prison and ordered to forfeit $12.1 million.

»Photo of Jason Miskiri from Society Lounge website