Enforcement

Johnson Brothers Liquor Company, one of the nation’s largest wine, spirits and beer distributors, and Nestor Imports Inc., trading as Riverside Imports, recently agreed to pay a total of $51,300 as part of a settlement agreement with Virginia ABC. Investigations conducted between October 2018 and June 2019 by a multitude of Virginia ABC Bureau of Law Enforcement personnel revealed that Johnson Brothers was not warehousing beer and wine products prior to delivery to retailers, a requirement of Virginia’s three-tier system for alcohol sales. Riverside Imports, which partners with Johnson Brothers in its Virginia distribution operations, drew charges of unauthorized sale of beer and wine and misuse of its Out of Bond Certificate. The payment, which includes a combined $42,000 in civil penalties and $9,300 for recouped investigation costs, is the largest monetary penalty paid to Virginia ABC in its 85-year history.

National Night Out is an annual community-building campaign to promote police-community partnerships and neighborhood camaraderie. ABC Bureau of Law Enforcement joined law enforcement agencies across the state to celebrate National Night out on August 6, 2019. Learn more about National Night Out’s mission.
Photo: Roanoke Special Agents Ford and Bolton (back row, center) at Salem's National Night Out at the ballpark.

Thanks to our community policing training program, law enforcement agencies around the state are better equipped to respond to the most pressing alcohol-related problems in their jurisdictions. Our Bureau of Law Enforcement is continuing the training program as part of its commitment to collaborating with local police and licensees to proactively reduce incidents involving alcohol.

Because laws and cultural traditions surrounding alcohol differ throughout the world, Virginia ABC translated important alcohol-related laws into Spanish to better serve its Hispanic citizens and businesses. Read more.

Are you planning to move and ship alcoholic beverages with your household goods to Virginia? The Code of Virginia (COV 4.1-310) prohibits the transportation or importation of more than one gallon of alcohol into the Commonwealth per individual per occasion. You do not need any paperwork to bring back one gallon or less. Read more.