Leonardtown, MD — “Sometimes people make mistakes. We understand that.” That statement by St. Mary’s County Alcohol Beverage Board (liquor board) Chairman Moses Saldana underscored the problem they faced in a series of hearings on alcohol sales to an underage (19-year-old) police cadet during a compliance check by the sheriff’s department.

In all six incidents the license holders admitted that either they or their clerks did in fact sell to the cadet. So all that was left for the board was to impose a penalty. Over time the board has developed what they called a consequence matrix in which a particular offense by a licensee with a certain record led to a specific penalty. In these particular cases the penalty was a fine. But the circumstances of the sale varied and in one case the fine also was higher than the others.

The police cadet made the purchases Oct. 22. She was accompanied to each location by Alcohol Enforcement Coordinator Cpl. James Stone of the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office. In some instances, an ID was not requested and in other cases it was requested and the sale was made anyway.

The licensees up for hearing at the Dec. 10 liquor board meeting were Abell’s Tavern in Callaway, Hermanville C Store in Lexington Park, Russell’s Store in Valley Lee, Sign of the Wale in Lexington Park, Stop “N Shop in Great Mills and W.J. Dent in Tall Timbers. All but one license was fined $1,000 with $500 suspended for three years if there is no subsequent infraction.

The one exception was the Stop ‘N Shop, whose licensees are an elderly couple, C.S. and Veena Chawla. Mr. Chawla admitted the stipulated facts from the board’s attorney that his wife had asked the cadet if she was 21 and she said yes. Then she asked for her ID and she presented it and sold her anyway.

The board was perplexed because the state now issues vertical licenses to those under 21 to differentiate them from the horizontal licenses for those 21 and over. Mr. Chawla said his wife’s eyesight wasn’t so good and she must not have seen it correctly.

When asked what the couple intended to do in the future, Mr. Chawla said his wife had reading glasses and would use them.

Saldana observed that the store is right across the street from Great Mills High School. “I have a concern because of the close proximity to a high school,” he said. He asked whether a higher fine or more alcohol server training would help. “I don’t know,” he concluded.

A motion to impose the same fine as the other offenders failed to carry and then the full $1,000 fine for the Chawlas was levied.

The other reported circumstances during the hearings were as follows:

• At Abell’s Tavern the clerk did not ask for an ID. Licensee Bachitar Singh Randhawa reported the clerk admitted making a mistake but was not fired. “She is a good employee,” he said. The licensee was represented by La Plata attorney Hammad Matin

• Hermanville C Store licensee is Mohammad Rahman Qureshi. The clerk asked if the cadet was 21 and she said she was. The clerk failed to ask for an ID. Everyone has had training; it was simply a mistake said their attorney, Shane Mattingly.

• Sign of the Whale licensee Darlene Young doesn’t work at the store, a point which Saldana noted was a problem with the law. She admitted the violation through attorney Shane Mattingly but had no personal knowledge of the incident other than what was reported to her by the manager, who was unable to attend the meeting. The employee who didn’t ask for the ID was terminated.

• Long-time Russell’s Store owner Janet Draper admitted she just didn’t take the time to check the ID after the cadet said she was 21. The store had no previous violations. She has run the business for 40 years.

• W.J. Dent licensees (brothers and sister) David Dent, William Dent and Thelma Sparks fired the clerk who made the sale at their Chief’s Bar. The clerk asked the cadet’s age but didn’t check the ID.

The violation for W.J. Dent was a particularly bitter pill for David Dent, who appears at virtually every board meeting as the representative of the Licensed Beverage Association. “I apologize for even being here,” Dent said. “It’s just a complete system breakdown when the ID isn’t asked for.”

Dent has pushed for legislation making clerks who sell to underage patrons more liable. Now they can be charged in court but there is no penalty from the liquor board.

Contact Dick Myers at dick.myers@thebaynet.com