What do you do the weekend before you may be headed to the slammer for 20 years? If you’re convicted Denver racketeer Mark Jay Jackson, who was accused of swindling 26 investors out of an estimated $42 million, you apparently go see “Fiddler on the Roof” and fantasize along with lead character Tevye what you would do if you were a rich man.
Jackson, 55, who was set to be sentenced today after pleading guilty to one count of violating the Colorado Organized Crime Act, was spotted Saturday night sitting in the 10th row left in the orchestra section at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.
“What better place to . . . say your last goodbyes?” my tipster said.
The former financial adviser faces a minimum sentence of probation or a maximum of 20 years in prison, depending on the judge’s sentence. A grand jury indicted Jackson in December on charges of theft, forgery, racketeering and securities fraud.
New eats.
After 17 years working for Benny Armas, owner of Benny’s Restaurante and Tequila Bar at East Seventh Avenue and Grant Street, brothers Rafael and Mario Vargas decided it was time to step out on their own.
With a little help from landlord and club king Regas Christou, the guys opened Zocalo, named after the busy public plaza in their hometown of Mexico City, at 12 E. 11th Ave. between Lincoln Street and Broadway. The space was formerly occupied by a number of restaurants, including most recently Fidel’s Cantina and Fat Daddy’s.
The menu offers typical Mexican fare — enchiladas, burritos, tacos, combo plates — at roughly $8 an entree. The restaurant is open seven nights a week, plus it serves takeout food from 1:30 to 3 a.m. Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays for nightclubbers.
Royal treatment.
The Westin Tabor Center and the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel want to treat King Tut fans like royalty with a King Tut package, coinciding with the exhibit’s upcoming installation at the Denver Art Museum.
While Tut will hang out in Denver from June 29 through Jan. 9, the hotel deal on those same dates includes an overnight stay along with two VIP (skip the line) tickets to the exhibit. VIP ticket holders have unlimited access to the Boy King and his crew even when the exhibition is sold out.
Package price for two starts at $129 at the Sheraton and $159 at the Westin. Reservations: or . Package purchasers also can register to win plane tickets and a four-night hotel stay for two in Cairo available from Jan. 15, 2011, through July 1, 2011.
Story time.
Tickets are still available for this year’s Denver Stories, a collection of four vignettes about the lives of Denver biz types, beginning at 6 p.m. Wednesday as a benefit for Curious Theatre Company, 1080 Acoma St.
This year’s victims, er, subjects: Patricia Barela Rivera, owner of PBA Solutions; Terrance Carroll, speaker of the state House; Adam Lerner, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver; and Leigh Jones, owner of Jonesy’s EatBar. Tix: .
EAVESDROPPING
A male caller, referring to Monday’s blustery weather:
“And they call Chicago the Windy City?”
Penny Parker’s column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Listen to her on the Caplis and Silverman radio show between 4 and 5 p.m. Fridays on KHOW-630 AM. Call her at 303-954-5224 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.
Background
Mark Jay Jackson, accused of swindling 26 investors out of about $42 million by presenting himself as a successful day trader of stocks, pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Colorado Organized Crime Act.
