Police and prosecutors have busted what they said was an illegal, high-end wine smuggling operation run by a local attorney.
A nine-month, undercover investigation has led to the arrest of Arthur David Goldman, a 49-year-old attorney from Malvern, Chester Co., the county’s district attorney’s office announced Monday.
“The defendant imported a collection of high-end wine that included over 2,000 bottles. He made those wines available for sale to his own private list of customers, knowing that it was illegal,” said First Asst. District Attorney Michael Noone. “This was not some casual exchange of wine between friends. The defendant was running a highly organized, high-volume illegal business operation to make money.”
The Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement learned of the operation in March. An undercover agent then contacted Goldman.
“How do I know you aren’t an agent for the PLCB?” Goldman asked.
Once satisfied with the agent’s response, Goldman provided the agent with a 97-page list of wines that were available for sale either from his personal wine cellar or that he could order, officials said.
State police subsequently made multiple undercover purchases of high-end wine, not available for legal purchase in Pennsylvania, at Goldman’s home, officials said.
“This was a brazen violation of the law by someone who clearly knew better. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he continued to systematically break the law,” Noone said.
The investigation culminated in a state police search of Goldman’s home on Jan. 6. They seized 2,426 bottles of high-end wine, valued between $150,000 and $200,000, officials said.
Goldman was charged with multiple misdemeanors. He could face a fine of nearly $200,000 if he’s convicted.
The case is being called “Pennsylvania vs. 2,447 Bottles of Wine.”
Caught in the middle of a legal battle between the state and Arthur Goldman is a wine collection — valued between $150,000 to $200,000 — that once sat in his Malvern, Pennsylvania, cellar.
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In 2014, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office accused Goldman, who did not have a license to sell alcohol, of peddling his 97-page wine list to a private group of people.
All liquor stores in Pennsylvania are operated by the state’s Liquor Control Board, and it is illegal for individuals to sell wine. It is also illegal to bring any alcohol, including wine, purchased outside of the state into Pennsylvania without having certain licenses.
People who move into the state must have their alcohol or wine collection movement approved by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board in advance, according to the board’s website.
After receiving a tip in 2013 that Goldman was selling wine illegally, an undercover State Police agent contacted Goldman and received a list of wine that was available for sale “either from his personal wine cellar or that he could order that were not available in Pennsylvania,” a release said.
The agent conducted multiple undercover purchases at his home. The District Attorney’s Office said, at the time of his arrest, that it believed Goldman sold the wines “knowing that it was illegal.”
“This was not some casual exchange of wine between friends — the defendant was running a highly organized, high-volume illegal business operation to make money,” said First Assistant District Attorney Michael Noone. “This was a brazen violation of the law by someone who clearly knew better.’
Goldman is an attorney who practices in Pennsylvania.
His attorney, Peter E. Kratsa, said the couple’s collection was a hobby, not a business.
“This wasn’t a retail inventory. This was about collecting and enjoying fine bottles for personal consumption,” Kratsa said in an email to CNN. “It’s almost impossible not to run afoul of antiquated liquor laws in (Pennsylvania) while being a wine connoisseur because the laws impede the ability to freely enjoy good wine.”
What happens to the wine
As for the 2,447 bottles of wine — their fate is partly still up in the air.
According to settlement reached last week, Goldman and his wife, Melissa Kurtzman, were allowed to pick out 1,047 bottles of wine from their collection to keep — the last bottled they selected was a Shiraz from Wayne Gretzky’s vineyard in Ontario, which was back in their home by last week.
Noone said that Goldman is now in a first offender diversionary program, and if he successfully completes it, he can move to have the unlawful sale of alcohol arrest removed from his record.
Per the settlement, the couple will accept the wine “as is” — knowing that the wine may not have been stored properly, as it was kept in a police evidence room. Goldman will not face charges.