SEATTLE – Three former Stillaguamish tribal leaders were sentenced to time in prison today at U.S. District Court. A fourth person, the wife of a former tribal leader, was ordered to serve home detention.
All four were sentenced months after pleading guilty to charges related to their business, The Blue Stilly Smoke Shop, where they illegally sold untaxed cigarettes.
They must also repay more than $25 million that should have gone to Washington State in cigarette sales taxes.
Ed Goodridge Sr. and his son, Eddie Goodridge Jr. were both ordered to serve 14 months in federal prison. Sara Schroedl, a relative of the Goodridges, was ordered to serve eight months in prison. Linda Goodridge, the wife of Ed Goodridge Sr., was ordered to serve 120 days of electronically monitored home detention and complete 200 hours of community service.
All four also were ordered to serve an additional two years of probation.
Linda Goodridge, who is not a tribal member, avoided prison time because she was not a tribal leader when the smoke shop opened in 2003. The other three were members of the Stilliguamish Tribal Council when that six-member board voted to open the smoke shop and sell untaxed cigarettes.
They operated the smoke shop as a private business and earned more than $55 million over four years. Ed Goodridge Sr. faced punishment of more than seven years in prison. The other three faced about six and a half years behind bars.
The case is just one of a spate of federal crimes by American Indians selling untaxed cigarettes. Other Indians, including Tulalip tribal member Stormmy Paul, who made millions selling untaxed cigarettes, have escaped prison time and instead have served probation.
The four operated the Blue Stilly Smoke Shop on tribal trust land they leased from the Stillaguamish tribe. The smoke shop was run illegally between 2003 until May of last year. That’s when the Stillaguamish tribe signed a cigarette sales compact with the state. The compact was signed about a year after the smoke shop was raided by federal agents in an investigation into untaxed cigarettes sold on Indian land.
The Goodridge family owns a handful of expensive vintage and sports cars. Ed and Linda Goodridge also own the Old Silvana General Store, where they sell die-cast and model cars. They also host a car show every year in downtown Silvana.
According to the store’s Web site, the Goodridge family at one point hoped to open a museum dedicated to drag racing in the Pacific Northwest, to feature the “life’s work collection of The Goodridge Family.”
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