Napa bribery racket at coronary heart of largest alcohol distributor in US

A bribery scandal has rocked Napa Valley as staff on the nation’s largest alcohol distributor had been indicted for allegedly bribing an Albertsons-owned retailer worker for preferential product placement whereas falsifying paperwork to evade costs.

The federal costs had been made public Wednesday, naming 5 executives who’re accused of bribing one worker — Patrick Briones, a lead wine purchaser for the corporate that additionally owns Vons — to regulate which wines appeared on grocery retailer cabinets in California as a part of an eight-year scheme from 2016 to 2024, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“The conduct in query was wholly inconsistent with our insurance policies, and we don’t, and won’t, tolerate it,” an Albertsons spokesperson advised the Chronicle, including that the corporate was cooperating with authorities.

The alleged bribes included an $11,000 lodge invoice for a trip, in addition to golf journeys to locations like Monterey County, Maui, Las Vegas and Florida, in response to the indictment.

Whereas the corporate, Southern Glazer’s, was not named within the indictment, it’s clear based mostly on workplace places and the staff recognized as Stephen Magliocco, Michael Dehdashtian, Adrian Ruiz, Ryan Dow and Loratina “Tina” Muscara.

“We perceive that 5 former workers of Southern Glazer’s have been charged,” Southern Glazer’s advised The California Publish by way of e-mail Thursday.

The California Publish has reached out to the people for remark however they’re but to reply.

“Southern Glazer’s is dedicated to full compliance with all relevant legal guidelines and business laws, and we maintain ourselves and our workers to the very best requirements of ethics and integrity. Now we have cooperated with related authorities and can proceed to take action.” the corporate added.

Underneath the alcohol business’s three-tier system, producers (Deutsch Household Wine & Spirits and Roots Run Deep Vineyard), distributors (Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits), and retailers (Albertsons Corporations) are required to function independently to forestall favoritism, bribery and different anti-competitive practices.

As a substitute, the scheme labored like a sequence of payoffs. Wine suppliers apparently gave presents, journeys and money to executives at distributor Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits to push sure manufacturers, in response to prosecutors. These distributor workers then allegedly funneled perks and kickbacks to Briones, who managed which wines had been stocked and promoted on grocery store cabinets.

The bribes — starting from luxurious journeys and reward playing cards to money — had been typically disguised in firm information as advertising or journey bills to keep away from detection, the indictment alleges.

The investigation started to floor publicly in 2025 after executives from Deutsch Household Wine & Spirits — who produce wines like Josh Cellars and Yellow Tail — pleaded responsible to bribing workers at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, prompting a wider probe by the Inner Income Service and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Commerce Bureau into purported pay-to-play practices in California’s wine distribution system, the Chronicle reported.

To keep away from detection, prosecutors say these concerned falsified invoices and disguised bribes as official bills reminiscent of “advertising,” “seminars,” and different enterprise prices, generally creating pretend lodge payments or routing funds by way of distributors as cowl transactions. In a single instance cited within the criticism, a supervisor allegedly instructed an worker to withdraw $2,000 in money and later reimbursed him utilizing a solid lodge receipt.

Two extra folks had been charged earlier within the investigation: John Herzog, a contractor for a wine provider who pleaded responsible to bribing retail patrons with presents reminiscent of a $2,000 train bike; and Jessica Goebel, proprietor of J. Go Occasions, who prosecutors say helped prepare and distribute perks — together with Tremendous Bowl tickets, first-class airfare, luxurious rental vehicles, and enormous quantities of pay as you go reward playing cards — between suppliers, distributors, and retail patrons.

The following listening to is scheduled for March 25 in Oakland, the place the federal grand jury authorised the fees. If discovered responsible, the defendants might withstand 5 years in jail for conspiracy and as much as 20 years for falsifying information, together with fines of as much as $250,000.

Napa Valley has been rocked by scandals this 12 months, from Jeffry Hill of Hill Wine Firm pleading responsible to a $2.5 million wine fraud scheme to Hoopes Winery going through a $4 million positive for allegedly internet hosting unlawful tastings.

---

Obtain The California Publish App, observe us on social, and subscribe to our newsletters