Oregon’s attorney general said Friday that the Oregon Department of Justice is opening a criminal investigation into allegations that senior officials at the state’s alcohol regulatory agency violated ethics laws by diverting rare and sought-after bourbons for personal use.
The officials said they paid for the whiskey, which can cost thousands of dollars a bottle, but allegedly used their knowledge and connections on the commission to obtain the products, according to an internal investigation by the Oregon Liquor and Hemp Commission.
The OLCC investigator was told that this practice had been going on for many years and involved not only state employees but also members of the Oregon legislature.
Thus, this practice deprived wealthy whiskey aficionados of the small boutique bourbon audience.
He also violated several Oregon laws, including one that prohibits public officials from using classified information for personal gain, according to the commission’s investigation.
Democratic Gov. Tina Kotick expressed outrage at the findings and on Wednesday asked the OLCC Board of Commissioners to fire CEO Steve Marks and others involved.
Kotick has also asked Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to conduct an independent civilian investigation. Instead, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division has opened an investigation, Rosenblum said, adding that a civil investigation would come later.
“The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission will comply fully with the criminal investigation announced today by the Oregon Attorney General,” commission spokesman Mark Pittinger said in an email.
Criminal law involves trying the accused and holding the offenders to account, usually through prison sentences or probation. Civil law deals with cases in which an economic award or penalty may help remedy the situation.
Chris Mytton, director of the Distilled Spirits Program, who was one of the people accused of abusing his position, told an OLCC investigator that he had acted as a “facilitator” for commission staff and lawmakers hundreds of times in obtaining whiskey as part of his job. assignments. He did not name any deputies.
The officials allegedly owned a very limited number of high-shelf bottles of bourbon that were destined for a liquor store, most likely in the Milwaukee suburb of Portland where the commission is located, and would keep them for later.
The Oregon State Ethics Commission is responsible for investigating ethics violations by lawmakers. Executive Director Ronald Bersen said in an email Friday that the commission has not received any complaints against lawmakers on the matter yet.
Marks did not respond to requests for comment from the Associated Press, but in his responses during the investigation, he denied that he had violated Oregon’s morality laws and state policy. However, he admitted that he received “somewhat” preferential treatment in obtaining whiskey as a commission employee. Marks and the other officials denied that they resold the whiskey they had obtained.
The board of commissioners is appointed by the governor and in turn selects the executive director, according to a commission spokesperson. The next regular meeting of the commissioners is Wednesday. The agency is the third largest source of revenue in the state.
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