Lex Wine and Spirits fined $1,000 after underage tobacco sale, board hears
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Summary
The Alcohol Beverage Board of St. Mary's County imposed a $1,000 fine on Lex Wine and Spirits after a sheriff's office compliance check found an employee sold cigarettes to a 19-year-old confidential informant.
The Alcohol Beverage Board of St. Mary's County voted to impose a $1,000 fine on Lex Wine and Spirits following testimony that the store sold tobacco to a 19-year-old confidential informant during a sheriff's office compliance check.
Board staff member Chris Beaver read the facts into the record: on Dec. 4, 2024, at about 2:56 p.m., a 19-year-old confidential informant accompanied by Sgt. Robert Merritt and Cpl. Chad Hartsell entered Lex Wine and Spirits at 46400 Lexington Village Way in Lexington Park. The informant purchased a pack of Newport cigarettes from an employee identified as Sean Benjamin Crow without being asked for identification, Beaver said. Officers photographed the purchase receipt and submitted the tobacco product for disposal. The clerk later admitted he did not ask for ID and said he thought the customer looked 21, Beaver said.
Beaver also said the clerk, identified in court records as Sean Benjamin Crow (transcript spelling varies), appeared in District Court of St. Mary's County on Feb. 27, 2025, pleaded guilty to violating section 10-107 of the Criminal Law Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland for sale of tobacco to a person under 21, and was fined $105 by the court.
During the board hearing, licensee Roland Melis acknowledged the store's written policy is to card all customers and said the business has added equipment and training aimed at preventing fake-ID sales. Melis said the point-of-sale machine now asks for ID when scanning alcohol or tobacco and the store plans to sign up for a SureScan ID-check service. "Every time that I leave the store, I tell them to check everyone's ID," Melis told the board.
Board members pressed Melis about repeat violations. The board noted the business had previously appeared before the board for an alcohol-related violation in October 2024 and that this incident represents a recent recurrence. Vice Chair Richard Watts warned, "if this sort of thing were happening again, you could lose your license." Board members emphasized the seriousness of repeated violations.
After staff testimony and discussion, the board moved to impose a $1,000 fine. The board instructed the licensee that payment is due within 10 days and that the decision may be appealed to the Circuit Court for St. Mary's County within 30 days.
Clarifying items discussed during the hearing included previously held funds and prior sanctions. Board staff said $500 had been held in advance for an underage alcohol sale and $750 had been held in abeyance for a prior act-contrary-to-law matter; those amounts were discussed as being applied to "today's penalties," but the transcript does not clearly state the licensee's net balance due to the board. The board recorded that the clerk had been cited and that officers had photographed the receipt and submitted evidence to the sheriff's office.
No license suspension was announced at the meeting; the fine was the formal penalty adopted by the board.
