Former SGWS Execs Indicted in Calif. Bribery Scheme

A federal grand jury has indicted five former employees Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits for their roles in a scheme to bribe grocery store alcohol buyers and conceal bribes with false and forged financial documentation.  A salesman for a Napa winery was also charged with bribery and making false statements, United States Attorney Craig H. Missakiane for Northern California said.

"These individuals were not employed by Southern Glazer's at the time of the indictment. 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," Southern Glazer's said.

According to the indictment, between at least 2016 and 2024, Stephen Magliocco, 47, of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., Michael Dehdashtian, 48, of Lake Forest, Calif., Adrian Ruiz, 54, of Corona, Calif., Ryan Dow, 40, of Upland, Calif., and Loratina Muscara, 64, of Livermore, Calif., and their co-conspirators knew SGWS was prohibited from paying bribes to alcohol retailers and wholesalers to purchase certain brands to the exclusion of others.

The five former employees of Distributor-1 allegedly took steps to conceal the bribes paid to employees of grocery store chains in California and the funding of those bribes, including using approved vendors of SGWS and some of its alcohol suppliers to issue false invoices purporting to be for a legitimate business expense, but which in reality funded the purchase of prepaid gift cards valued at up to $1,000 each, luxury and designer items such as watches, purses, and golf and exercise equipment, among other things.  

The indictment further alleges that Michael Sean Salene, 60, of Garden City, Idaho, an employee salesman for Roots Run Deep Winery in Napa, bribed the head alcohol buyer for a large national grocery store chain that operates approximately 300 stores in California, lied to investigators when questioned about those bribes, and falsified invoices.  

Magliocco, Dehdashtian, Ruiz, Dow, and Muscara are each charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and obstruct investigations.  Magliocco, Ruiz, and Muscara are also charged with falsification of records to obstruct investigations.  Salene is charged with Travel Act bribery and making false statements.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.  

The prosecution is the result of an investigation by Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations division. .