Lenox restaurants, North Canaan airstrip up in the air following crypto plea

The airstrip in North Canaan on West Main Street is owned by Ryan Salame, who is listed as as principal.
Photo by John Coston

Lenox restaurant and real estate entrepreneur and North Canaan airstrip owner Ryan Salame has pleaded guilty to criminal charges of conspiring to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the Federal Elections Commission.
Appearing before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan on Thursday Sept. 7, the Berkshire native agreed to give up more than $1.5 billion in assets to the U.S. government as part of the plea deal, the Reuters news agency reported. He had been co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, an FTX affiliate.
Salame, 30, was released on a $1 million bond, CNBC reported. He faces a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison, with sentencing set for March 6.
He will also pay $5 million to more than 1 million investors who lost a reported $8 billion as a result of the FTX implosion last November.
The fate of his Lenox restaurant and real estate holdings — worth at least $6 million — now hangs in the balance, with a group of local investors poised to try to keep the restaurants in local hands.
In addition, the small airstrip in North Canaan on West Main Street and across from the transfer station, a storied part of Northwest Corner life for decades, is owned by Triumph Airfield LLC, registered with the Secretary of State of Connecticut with Ryan Salame as principal.
Salame will have to pay $5 million to debtors of FTX and $6 million in fines to the government. He will also surrender two houses he owns in Lenox, as well as his 2021 Porche, CNBC reported.
Salame made his fortune as a bitcoin investor, cryptocurrency executive and lieutenant to disgraced and now imprisoned FTX exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
He donated nearly $24 million last year to 97 Republican candidates and political action committees.
A native of Sandisfield, after attending Farmington River Elementary School in Otis, Salame graduated from Monument Mountain Regional High School in Great Barrington in 2011, four years after he began working as a dishwasher at the former Martin’s Restaurant in Great Barrington, which closed in 2016.
“He started out washing dishes when he was 14 but then he did everything,” Martin Lewis, owner of the popular restaurant, told The Eagle last year. “He was very smart and energetic. He’s just a wonderful person. A great kid.”
By 2016, Salame (pronounced SAY-lem) had graduated from the Isenberg School of Management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a business degree in accounting and then obtained a master’s in finance at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
With a keen interest in cryptocurrency, in 2017 he went to work for Circle Internet Financial He helped Bankman-Fried create FTX Trading Ltd. in Hong Kong before relocating to the Bahamas as co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets in September 2021.
By then, he had burst upon the downtown Lenox scene, acquiring Firefly Gastropub from Laura Shack in mid-summer 2020. In March 2021, he purchased the Olde Heritage Tavern, including its real estate on Housatonic Street, from longtime owner John McNinch and his family for $1.5 million, plus the undisclosed value of the business.
After the death of owner Jim Lucie, he bought the former Cafe Lucia in December 2021, which remains vacant. Under the Lenox Eats Collective marketing brand, he added The Scoop ice cream parlor and candy shop, renaming it Sweet Dreams. Other acquisitions included a vacant former restaurant site on Franklin Street, a commercial and residential site at 27 Housatonic St., including Ombra and Shots Cafe, while opening the Lenox Catering Co. and The Lunch Pail, a food truck.
The Journal occasionally offers articles courtesy of The Berkshire Eagle.
FALLS VILLAGE — Robin Lee Roy, 62, of Zephyrhills, Florida, passed away Jan. 14, 2026.
She was a longtime CNA, serving others with compassion for more than 20 years before retiring from Heartland in Florida.
Robin loved the beach, sunshine, and gardening, and was known for her strength, humor, and unwavering support of those she loved.
She is survived by her daughter, Sierra R. Zinke, and brothers, Darren Roy and Todd Roy.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Sharon Thomkins Roy and Robert Roy, and her brother Nevin Roy.
No services will be held at this time.
SALISBURY — Marjorie A. Vreeland, 98, passed away peacefully at Noble Horizons, on Jan. 10, 2026.She was surrounded by her two loving children, Richard and Nancy.She was born in Bronxville, New York,on Aug. 9, 1927, to Alice (Meyer) and Joseph Casey, both of whom were deceased by the time she was 14. She attended public schools in the area and graduated from Eastchester High School in Tuckahoe and, in 1946 she graduated from The Wood School of Business in New York City.
At 19 years old, she married Everett W. Vreeland of White Plains, New York and for a few years they lived in Ithaca, New York, where Everett was studying to become a veterinarian at Cornell. After a short stint in Coos Bay, Oregon (Mike couldn’t stand the cloudy, rainy weather!) they moved back east to Middletown, Connecticut for three years where Dr. Vreeland worked for Dr. Pieper’s veterinary practice.In Aug. of 1955, Dr. and Mrs. Vreeland moved to North Kent, Connecticut with their children and started Dr. Vreeland’s Veterinary practice. In Sept. of 1968 Marjorie, or “Mike” as she wished to be called, took a “part-time job” at the South Kent School.She retired from South Kent 23 years later on Sept. 1, 1991.Aside from office help and bookkeeping she was secretary to the Headmaster and also taught Public Speaking and Typing.In other times she worked as an assistant to the Town Clerk in Kent, an office worker and receptionist at Ewald Instruments Corp. and as a volunteer at the Kent Library.
“Mike” loved the sun, sand and water and spent many summers at Westport Point, Massachusetts with the kids and their best friends, the Bauers.She was the consummate hostess, and a wonderful cook.She also appeared in several plays with The Sherman Players and also a show or two on special occasions at The Kent Community House.She took enjoyment from working outdoors doing chores around her home in North Kent.She lived in that house until she sold it and bought a condominium on North Main Street in Kent in May of 2003.She lived in the condo until 2018 after which her light began to fade and her last 8 years were spent comfortably at Noble Horizons.
“Mike” leaves behind her children, Richard (Susan) of Lakeville, her daughter Nancy Rutledge (Jim) of Salisbury; two grandchildren, Chandra Gerrard (Sean) of Litchfield, Matthew (Larissa) of Lakeville; three great grandchildren, Addison, Emilia and Everett, all of Lakeville.
She was predeceased by her beloved granddaughter Caroline in 2020.
All services are private.The Ryan Funeral Home, 255 Main St., Lakeville, is in charge of arrangements.
To offer an online condolence, please visit ryanfhct.com
SALISBURY -— Rafael A. Porro, 88, of 4 Undermountain Road, passed away Jan. 6, 2026, at Sharon Hospital. Rafael was born on April 19, 1937 in Camaguey, Cuba the son of Jose Rafael Porro and Clemencia Molina de Porro. He graduated from the Englewood School for Boys in Englewood, New Jersey and attended Columbia University School of General Studies. Rafael retired as a law library clerk from the law firm of Curtis, Mallet Prevost in 2002 and came to live in Salisbury to be nearer to his sister, Chany Wells.
Rafael is survived by his sister, Chany Wells, his nephew Conrad Wells (Gillian), and by numerous cousins in North Carolina, Florida, Wyoming, Arizona, Cuba and Canada. He was the eldest of the cousins and acknowledged family historian. He will be greatly missed.
A memorial service will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church in June. Memorial contributions may be made to Salisbury Volunteer Ambulance Service, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Salisbury and Scoville Memorial Library.
The Kenny Funeral Home has care of arrangements.
TORRINGTON — Roger D. Ovitt, 91, of 35 Berry St. Torrington, died peacefully at his home surrounded by his loving family.He was the husband of Barbara (Webb) Ovitt of Torrington.Roger was born June 28, 1934 in Amenia, New York, son of the late Ronald and Edna Lucy (King) Ovitt.
Roger had worked for 36 years as a crusher operator for the former Pfizer Corporation in Canaan. After retiring from Pfizer in 1992, Roger joined his brother, Brian, and began a new career as a house painter. Roger enjoyed this venture with his brother.He was an avid fisherman.Roger also loved to garden.He took great pride in the flowers and vegetables that he raised.
In addition to his wife, Roger is survived by his children;Donald Ovitt and his wife Alissa of Clarksville, Tennessee, Jennifer Godburn and her husband Stephen of Sarasota, Florida, Valerie Bachman and her husband Paul of Torrington, Connecticut, Stephanie Follett of Ashley Falls, Massachusetts, and Nelson Roddy and his wife Mary of Lakeville, Connecticut.Roger is also survived by his sister, Eleanor Hineman of Connecticut, and his three brothers; Robert Ovitt of Southfield, Massachusetts, Brian Ovitt and his wife Alice of Sheffield, Massachusetts, and Gary Ovitt and his wife Cheryl of Sheffield, Massachusetts; his brother-in-law Charlton Webb of Winsted, Connecticut;12 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
Roger was predeceased by his daughter, Penny Fallon, sister Joy Eichstedt, brothers Ronald, Carlton, Jerry, Wayne, and Raymond Ovitt, his grandson Shawn Bachman, his great-grandsonEli Green, and his step-father Edwin Mansir.
A Celebration of Roger’s Life will be held on Saturday Jan. 24, 2026, at 11 a.m. in the Newkirk-Palmer Funeral Home 118 Main St. North Canaan, CT 06018.
Calling hours will be held at the funeral home on Saturday from 10 a.m. until the service begins at 11 a.m.
Memorial donations in Roger’s memory may be made to Connecticut Chapter of theAlzheimer’s Association 10 Executive Drive Suite 202 Farmington, CT 06032.