Massachusetts Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Blog

A federal judge has delayed the sentencing of former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson for corruption charges. Wilkerson was scheduled to be sentenced this week, but both the prosecution and the defense asked U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock to consider additional information first.

Woodlock heard more testimony from Dorchester developer Azeed Mohammed, who claims Wilkerson solicited bribes. Mohammed told the judge he gave Wilkerson $5,000 over a four-year period.

Wilkerson was not charged over those alleged payments, and her lawyer has said she did not solicit the money.

The defense may also have Wilkerson herself take the stand to explain her request for leniency.

"The battle here today is over how to persuade the judge," WBUR's David Boeri said from federal courthouse.

Sentencing is now set for Jan. 6.

Wilkerson pleaded guilty in June to eight counts of attempted extortion after she was captured on video stuffing bribe money into her bra. She was accused of taking $23,500 in bribes to help get a liquor license for a nightclub and an undercover agent posing as a businessman.

After denying the transfer of a liquor license to a Shrewsbury man partly because of his character, the Northboro Board of Selectmen has approved the license transfer, but with conditions, reported the Worcester Telegram. The Board's decision follows an ABCC reversal of the Board's earlier decision to deny the license.

In March, the board denied the license transfer for Celtic Tavern, a Route 9 eatery, to Christopher J. Muello, sole owner of CJ Restaurant Enterprises. Muello appealed to the Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. Following a hearing in June, the ABCC in September sided with Muello and decided the license transfer should be approved.

The Board of Selectmen then appealed the ABCC decision in Superior Court, but also asked town counsel to seek a settlement with Mr. Muello, the Telegram reported.

The compromise accepted by both sides is a transfer of the liquor license with the following conditions: Mr. Muello cannot serve as the manager of the restaurant, and unless otherwise approved by the board, Mr. Muello cannot prepare or serve food, alcohol or other beverages at the restaurant.

The board voted 4-0 to transfer the license, with Selectman William J. Pantazis abstaining. The board plans to drop its court appeal.

Muello is on probation until January for a charge of reckless driving. He was found not guilty of drunken driving.

The city of Lynn's License Commission has voted to approve the transfer of a beer-and-wine license to Lupita at 18-20 Munroe St, a 48-seat Mexican-style eatery, formerly home to the Pho Lynn restaurant, which opened in September but did not have the necessary license to sell beer and wine.

Since then, it has operated under the so-called "brown bag" provision that allows patrons to bring their own beer and wine.

On Tuesday, with formalities resolved, Lupita owner Erasmo Guevara received the license previously held by Pho Lynn restaurant owner Thuy Diem Le, reported by the Lynn Daily Item.

Guevara and his wife, Francesca Cabrera, have owned and operated the popular but smaller Tacos Lupita restaurant at the corner of Munroe and Washington streets for several years.

Given its success, the couple decided to expand by adding the larger restaurant where lunch and dinner are served in a more elegant, slower-paced atmosphere.

The Lawrence Eagle Tribune published an editorial last week theorizing that if police accounts are accurate, the Capital Cafe & Grill in Lawrence should not be granted a liquor license.

Police say owner Juan Carlos Ramirez has been running an illegal after-hours club, serving alcohol without a license and providing exotic dancers for entertainment. Ramirez's application for a liquor license is pending before the Licensing Board.

Lawrence police went to the restaurant's 89 S. Broadway address last week to tow a vehicle. What they discovered was something else entirely, reported the Tribune.

On the 3 a.m. call, Lawrence Officer Alberto Inostroza overheard loud music coming from above the restaurant and followed the noise to the second floor. There they found anw apartment converted into a private strip club, complete with stripper poles, strobe lights and a well-stocked bar.

At least 20 people were inside having a party, police said. They said they also found a woman wearing a thong and a G-string trying to get dressed. She told the officer that she and a friend lived in the Bronx, N.Y., and were hired by Ramirez to dance.

Police are investigating whether any charges should be filed.

"The way he's been running the club shows he is irresponsible and wouldn't be a suitable holder for a liquor license," police Chief John Romero told reporter Mark E. Vogler.

A yet-to-open pizza restaurant in Allston will have its recently approved liquor license revoked because of a zoning discrepancy, according to boston.com.

The decision comes after neighbors complained about the proliferation of beer-and-pizza establishments in the area.

The business, Stone Hearth Pizza on Western Avenue, applied for and was initially approved in mid-November under the belief that it is located within the boundaries of a zoning area that allows businesses to apply for a special liquor license separate from the traditional citywide competition.

Interesting story in the Globe about retail sales of wine in the $20-plus category, which have increased 18 percent from October 2009 to 2010, nationally and in Massachusetts. Perhaps a sign that the economy is improving.

Barry Gidseg, the owner of The Big Y Plaza in Greenfield, wants a large liquor store to open in the plaza. Gidseg is hoping to buy a liquor license from one of the existing small package stores in town to make it happen. He is even willing to move an existing liquor store and pay a commission to someone who can make it happen.

He placed an advertisement in a local newspaper asking one of the five package store owners in Greenfield to sell him a license. The state has set a maximum of five full-liquor licenses for Greenfield, based primarily on its population.

In the advertisement, Gidseg says he will pay 'top dollar' for a license. He also says he would like the local package store owner to either sell the license outright or move into the Big Y plaza 'as a joint venture.'

Attorneys for a former Massachusetts state senator who pleaded guilty to accepting $23,500 in bribes are complaining that federal prosecutors are trying to persuade a judge to sentence her to more than the four years maximum called for under a plea agreement.

Boston Democrat Dianne Wilkerson pleaded guilty in June to eight counts of attempted extortion after she was captured on video stuffing bribe money into her sweater and bra. She was charged with accepting the bribes to help get a liquor license for a nightclub and an undercover agent posing as a businessman who wanted to develop state property in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston.

U.S. District Judge Douglas Woodlock has scheduled Wilkerson's sentencing for Dec. 22 after listening to a prosecutor and defense lawyer argue over what factors the judge should consider when sentencing her.

In a sentencing memo filed in November, prosecutors said they would ask for a sentence of four years, which is higher than what is recommended in federal sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors cited Wilkerson's conviction in 1997 for failing to pay $51,000 in federal income taxes and numerous campaign law violations.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John McNeil wrote that Wilkerson has "repeatedly demonstrated that she believed that she was above the law."

During a hearing to set her sentencing date, Wilkerson's lawyer, Max Stern, suggested that prosecutors were paying "lip service" to sticking with their recommendation for a four-year sentence, but appeared to be trying to get Woodlock to impose an even higher sentence.

Three years ago, The Exchange at the Wenham Tea House was issued Wenham's first liquor license. Soon, the Salem News reports, the restaurant may have another first: selling bottles of wine with its quiches, potpies and other takeout meals.

The Legislature recently greenlighted a home rule petition for the town to change its liquor license to allow take-home sales of unopened bottles instead of serving alcoholic drinks to restaurant patrons.

If the teahouse is approved for the new license, it will be the first time bottled alcoholic beverages have been sold in Wenham, which relinquished its "dry" status in 2006. The change also drops the number of liquor licenses in Wenham from four to one; the other three have remained unissued since 2006.

The new license would allow the sale of beer and wine, but Emma Roberts, who runs the teahouse, said she intends to sell only wine.

It could be January or later before the change takes effect. The teahouse must apply for the new liquor license, receive town approval and then get a final approval from the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission.

The Hungry Fox, which sells takeout meals roughly one mile away in Hamilton, also sells bottles of wine, Roberts said.
A 2009 home rule petition, which was never passed, would have allowed Wenham a liquor license to both pour drinks and sell unopened bottles.

Wenham was the last town on the North Shore to lose its "dry" status, preceded by Topsfield. According to the ABCC, 9 of Massachusetts' 351 cities and towns remain dry.