CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The owner of the Blackhawk Saloon in Charleston has temporarily lost his liquor license after almost two years of skirting the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department's indoor smoking ban.

An undercover West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Administration officer visited the bar on Friday and saw multiple employees and patrons smoking in the bar on East Point Drive, said spokesperson Gig Robinson.

As a result, Kerry "Paco" Ellison's license was pulled.

Ellison has been one of the most outspoken critics of the county's smoking ban since it was approved in November 2007. He has allowed patrons and employees to light up in his bar, even after being fined for violating the ban.

"[Smoking] continues to be an ongoing problem there," Robinson said. "The West Virginia ABCA views it as a public safety issue that criminal activity is being allowed there."

The bar owner has temporarily lost his liquor license, but Robinson said it's unclear what will actually happen to the bar.

"We will allow for our investigation to continue before making a determination of what our next step will be," Robinson said.

Ellison can't serve any beer, wine or liquor while his license is suspended, but that doesn't mean he has to close down, Robinson said.

"In theory, he could stay open and serve food," he said.

Ellison was the first bar owner in the county to be convicted of violating the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department's indoor smoking regulations in February 2009, and was fined $400.

Ellison previously told the Gazette that the fine would not stop him from allowing customers to light up.

"I'm not the smoking police," he told Kanawha County Magistrate Ward Harshbarger during his one-hour hearing in February.

However, the ACBA definitely has Ellison's attention now.

"I did speak with [commissioner Dallas Staples] several months ago and he told me that now that smoking had been deemed a crime, that it would be seen as me allowing a crime to go on here if anybody smoked in here," he said Tuesday.

But Ellison said he "didn't really take him that seriously," and continued to let patrons and employees smoke in the bar.

Ellison said he was surprised when his license was pulled Monday, but said he's optimistic that the ABCA will reinstate his license in the next few days.

"They have my attention now," he said, "so if they give me back my license, which I'm optimistic that they will, I'm really capable of going cold turkey."

Ellison, a non-smoker, said that he think his patrons will understand if he switches his policy and cuts off smoking in the bar.

"I can be a good boy," he said.

Robinson said Friday was not the first night that an undercover ABCA officer had visited the bar.

"There was already a pending violation," he said. "We'd been there several times in the past."

Robinson said the enforcement division will now take over the investigation and decide on the appropriate punishment, which would range from Ellison getting his license back and paying fines, to a license with restricted hours or a temporary suspension. 

The worst punishment would be a revocation of Ellison liquor license, which means "you're out of business for five years," Robinson said.

Ellison said Staples told him that a decision about his license would be made by the end of the week.

@tag:Reach Kathryn Gregory at kathr...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5119.