Napa bribery racket at heart of biggest alcohol distributor in US

A bribery scandal has rocked Napa Valley as workers at the country’s largest alcohol distributor were indicted for allegedly bribing an Albertsons-owned store employee for preferential product placement while falsifying documents to evade charges.

The federal charges were made public Wednesday, naming five executives who are accused of bribing one employee — Patrick Briones, a lead wine buyer for the company that also owns Vons — to control which wines appeared on grocery store shelves in California as part of an eight-year scheme from 2016 to 2024, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

“The behavior in question was wholly inconsistent with our policies, and we do not, and will not, tolerate it,” an Albertsons spokesperson told the Chronicle, adding that the company was cooperating with authorities.

The alleged bribes included an $11,000 hotel bill for a vacation, as well as golf trips to places like Monterey County, Maui, Las Vegas and Florida, according to the indictment.

While the company, Southern Glazer’s, was not named in the indictment, it is clear based on office locations and the employees identified as Stephen Magliocco, Michael Dehdashtian, Adrian Ruiz, Ryan Dow and Loratina “Tina” Muscara.

“We understand that five former employees of Southern Glazer’s have been charged,” Southern Glazer’s told The California Post via email Thursday.

The California Post has reached out to the individuals for comment but they are yet to respond.

“Southern Glazer’s is committed to full compliance with all applicable laws and industry regulations, and we hold ourselves and our employees to the highest standards of ethics and integrity. We have cooperated with relevant authorities and will continue to do so.” the company added.

Under the alcohol industry’s three-tier system, producers (Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits and Roots Run Deep Winery), distributors (Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits), and retailers (Albertsons Companies) are required to operate independently to prevent favoritism, bribery and other anti-competitive practices.

Instead, the scheme worked like a chain of payoffs. Wine suppliers apparently gave gifts, trips and cash to executives at distributor Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits to push certain brands, according to prosecutors. Those distributor employees then allegedly funneled perks and kickbacks to Briones, who controlled which wines were stocked and promoted on supermarket shelves.

The bribes — ranging from luxury trips and gift cards to cash — were often disguised in company records as marketing or travel expenses to avoid detection, the indictment alleges.

The investigation began to surface publicly in 2025 after executives from Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits — who produce wines like Josh Cellars and Yellow Tail — pleaded guilty to bribing employees at Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits, prompting a wider probe by the Internal Revenue Service and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau into purported pay-to-play practices in California’s wine distribution system, the Chronicle reported.

To avoid detection, prosecutors say those involved falsified invoices and disguised bribes as legitimate expenses such as “marketing,” “seminars,” and other business costs, sometimes creating fake hotel bills or routing payments through vendors as cover transactions. In one example cited in the complaint, a manager allegedly instructed an employee to withdraw $2,000 in cash and later reimbursed him using a forged hotel receipt.

Two additional people were charged earlier in the investigation: John Herzog, a contractor for a wine supplier who pleaded guilty to bribing retail buyers with gifts such as a $2,000 exercise bike; and Jessica Goebel, owner of J. Go Events, who prosecutors say helped arrange and distribute perks — including Super Bowl tickets, first-class airfare, luxury rental cars, and large amounts of prepaid gift cards — between suppliers, distributors, and retail buyers.

The next hearing is scheduled for March 25 in Oakland, where the federal grand jury approved the charges. If found guilty, the defendants could face up to five years in prison for conspiracy and up to 20 years for falsifying records, along with fines of up to $250,000.

Napa Valley has been rocked by scandals this year, from Jeffry Hill of Hill Wine Company pleading guilty to a $2.5 million wine fraud scheme to Hoopes Vineyard facing a $4 million fine for allegedly hosting illegal tastings.

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