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Judge fines restaurant owner for illegal alcohol sales
George Argue, co-owner of Madison’s Bistro, pleaded guilty in Kettering Municipal Court this morning, April 23, to one count of keeping a place where alcohol was sold illegally.
Kettering Municipal Judge Robert L. Moore fined Argue $500, the maximum penalty under the unclassified misdemeanor charge. The judge dismissed a more serious charge of illegal sales of alcohol — a first-degree misdemeanor that carries a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine — as part of a plea agreement.
No prosecutor was in the courtroom during the change of plea and sentencing, and James F. Long, the municipal prosecutor who handled the case, could not be reached this morning following the hearing.
Argue’s attorney, Ronald P. Keller, declined comment after the hearing. Argue said the restaurant at 5531 Far Hills Ave. in Washington Twp., which has been closed since January, would not reopen, but declined further comment.
The charges followed a Jan. 14, 2010 raid by agents of the Ohio Department of Public Safety’s Ohio Investigative Unit who were acting on a tip that Madison’s Bistro was serving alcohol without a license. The restaurant’s license to serve alcohol was revoked a year earlier, on Jan. 12, 2009. The non-renewal resulted from the restaurant not forwarding to the state tax money it had collected, state officials said.
An affidavit filed by a state agent in Kettering Municipal Court to obtain a search warrant says undercover officers purchased beer at the restaurant’s bar on two occasions, on Dec. 29 and Jan. 12.
During the Jan. 14 raid, agents seized five boxes of records, 136 full and partial bottles of liquor, 237 bottles of wine, 14 bottles of beer, $205 from a safe, and $96 in cash from a cash register behind the bar, according to court records.
Three wholesalers of alcoholic beverages faced or are facing regulatory actions for continuing to sell alcohol to the restaurant after its license was revoked.
The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Liquor Control earlier this month announced it would dock Arrow Wine & Spirits $558 for improperly selling liquor to Madison’s, although the division also acknowledged “shortcomings” in its procedures of notifying wholesalers when restaurants and bars lose their license to serve alcohol to customers.
Two other wholesaler-distributors of alcoholic beverages — Dayton-based beer distributor Bonbright, and Mason-based wine distributor Vintner Select — also face possible sanctions for improperly selling to Madison’s. The two distributors’ cases before a separate state agency, the Ohio Liquor Control Commission, have not yet been decided.
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