No criminal charges in rare liquor probe at Oregon alcohol agency, state report says

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Criminal charges are not warranted successful the uncommon liquor probe that shook Oregon’s intoxicant bureau past twelvemonth and forced its enforcement manager to resign, authorities justness officials said Monday.

In February 2023, the Oregon Department of Justice began investigating whether employees of the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission improperly utilized their positions to get bottles of top-shelf bourbon for idiosyncratic use. The section reviewed thousands of documents and emails, and interviewed dozens of people, including existent and erstwhile committee employees and liquor store agents. It concluded it did not person capable grounds to beryllium the transgression offenses it had considered — authoritative misconduct and misuse of confidential accusation — beyond a tenable doubt.

In a study released Monday, the section said that “even though the employees’ behaviour whitethorn person breached ethical standards, determination is nary explicit argumentation prohibiting the circumstantial conduct, we recovered nary grounds of applicable training, and the signifier appears to person been longstanding and endorsed by astatine slightest 1 enforcement director.”

The findings were announced successful a quality merchandise from Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, who described the probe arsenic thorough and said it was “critical that Oregonians person spot successful our authorities agencies, their leaders and employees.”

Justice officials launched the probe past twelvemonth aft quality outlets obtained via nationalist records requests an interior probe by the bureau that concluded its then-Executive Director Steve Marks and 5 different bureau officials had diverted sought-after bourbons, including Pappy Van Winkle's 23-year-old whiskey, for idiosyncratic use.

Officials were paying for the whiskey, which tin outgo thousands of dollars a bottle, but they had utilized their cognition and connections astatine the committee to get them, and consequently deprived members of the nationalist of the costly booze, the interior probe said.

The officials purportedly had precise constricted bottles of top-shelf bourbon routed to a liquor store, often successful the Portland suburb of Milwaukie wherever the committee office is located, and would reserve them for pickup later. They said they utilized the whiskey for idiosyncratic depletion oregon arsenic gifts.

In his responses to questions from the interior investigator, Marks denied that helium had violated Oregon morals laws and authorities policy. However, helium acknowledged that helium had received preferential attraction “to immoderate extent” successful obtaining the whiskey arsenic a committee employee. Marks and the different officials said they ne'er resold the whiskeys they obtained.

In its probe, the committee considered that the funneling of top-end whiskey to leaders of the authorities bureau violated Oregon statutes, including 1 that prohibits nationalist officials from utilizing confidential accusation for idiosyncratic gain. The authorities justness department's consequent investigation, however, recovered this discourtesy wasn't warranted, “because the the nonpublic accusation relied connected by the employees — that a uncommon liquor vessel was disposable — did not impact the vessel itself” by expanding its value.

Justice officials said transgression charges of authoritative misconduct weren't warranted either, arsenic they would necessitate impervious that the employees knew their actions were unauthorized and determination are nary statutes that explicitly prohibit the behaviour seen successful the case.

Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek thanked the justness officials who worked connected the investigation. She had called for the probe and requested Marks' resignation.

“While the probe recovered that the behaviour reviewed did not conscionable the load indispensable for transgression prosecution, the documents and reports resulting from the extended transgression probe volition beryllium disposable to the Oregon Government Ethics committee for information successful its pending reappraisal of morals complaints related to this matter," Kotek said successful a statement.

The Oregon Government Ethics Commission, which is charged with enforcing authorities morals laws, is conducting a separate, ongoing civilian probe into the matter.