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decided to retire as well. But unlike Monk, who was leaving the
city life to move to the bucolic mountains of western Maryland,
Maney--who had worked in a saloon before meeting his friend--
wanted to stay in Baltimore and run a bar. He faced just two
obstacles: He didn’t have the money or knowhow to buy a building
for the bar, and in his distant youth he’d committed a felony
which, as far as he knew, would keep him from getting a liquor
license. Maney talked to Monk; Monk said that since Maney liked
the bar business and Monk liked rental property, Monk would help
Maney out.
In 1994, Monk and Maney went in together to buy a bar and
building in the blue-collar Baltimore neighborhood of
Highlandtown. Maney gave Monk $40,000 to cover the cost of the
business--which he named Chuck’s Place--and Monk put up the
remainder of the $210,000 purchase price. Monk then applied for
and received the liquor license for Chuck’s Place and became the
bar’s registered sales agent for the Maryland Lottery. He also
set up a bank account for Chuck’s Place and gave Maney full
signatory authority over it. With that done, Monk moved almost
200 miles away and left the operation of the bar to Maney.
In the mid-1990s, Highlandtown was a rough neighborhood.
Chuck’s Place was open every day from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., so Maney
and his family (who helped him run the bar) moved into the second
floor of the building to keep an eye on things. He installed
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Last modified: March 27, 2008