Former Orlando nightclub owner sentenced 14 years after guilty plea in child sex crimes case
ORLANDO, Fla. —
Richard Kowalczyk, former owner of the Southern Nights nightclub in Orlando, has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.
When charges were filed against Kowalczyk in 2025, he transferred ownership and stepped away entirely from Southern Nights and District Dive.
Eric Patrick, another defendant in the case, also pleaded guilty to a similar charge and was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
The indictment traced years of SMS communication between Kowalczyk and Patrick, in which officials said the two discussed their desire to have “sexual relations with teenage boys,” their desire to “find new teenage boys with whom to have sexual relations,” and frequently shared “sexual images” back and forth of the people they met on online dating sites. According to court records, some of these individuals were under 18.