The indictment of Stephen Magliocco, a former vice president for Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits; Michael Dehdashtian, vice president of chains; Adrian Ruiz, senior vice president for California; Ryan Dow, director of sales; and Loratina "Tina" Muscara, director of sales, is the latest in a series of cases arising from alleged violations of the Federal Alcohol Administration Act.

The indictment doesn't name Southern Glazer's, choosing to call it "Distributor 1," but identifying details such as office locations make it clear it is SGWS.

It alleges the defendants and co-conspirators " devised and participated in a scheme to provide bribes to employees of retail grocery chains to increase the purchases of certain alcohol brands and to obstruct any investigations into the bribes by creating and maintaining false financial documents.

“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,” said an SGWS spokesperson said. “We have cooperated with relevant authorities and will continue to do so.”

The indictment explains that employees and suppliers of Distributor-1 knew that the distribution company and its partners were prohibited from paying bribes to alcohol retailers and wholesalers to purchase certain brands to the exclusion of others, and that the distribution company was subject to audit and inspection by the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau (TTB).  

The investigation was revealed last year when two executives of Deutsch Family Wine & Spirits pleaded guilty to bribing SGWS employees to favor their products.

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 Distributor-1 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 a Napa winery, 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.

The indictment says that from 2016 to March 2024, distributor employees and brand representatives gave Patrick Briones, who LinkedIn identified as an assistant sales manager at Albertsons Co., sweetheart deals in exchange for buying and promoting certain brands carried by SGWS.

The bribes were discussed during regular planning meetings, prosecutors said, with employees sometimes staying after to privately discuss which items came with kickbacks.

These alleged kickbacks included prepaid gift cards, luxury items, consumer electronics and even cash, as well as travel expenses like airfare, hotel stays, expensive meals and golfing trips. Employees allegedly falsified statements and invoices involving vendors to skirt detection, disguising many of them as business expenses such as “marketing” or “seminar.” 

The U.S. Attorney's Office notes that an indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The possible sentence depends upon the crime committed. If convicted of conspiracy, of interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprise – bribery, of false statements defendants face a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. If convicted of falsification of records to obstruct investigations they also face 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for.  

Any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence.  

Southern Glazer's last year settled a major lawsuit the complained the company illegally boycotted an online alcohol-selling platform. In 2014, the Federal Trade Commission sues SGWS for illegal price discrimination.