St. Mary's County board fines DJ's 1 Stop employee, licensee over underage sale

The Alcohol Beverage Board of St. Mary’s County on May 8, 2025 found that an employee at DJ’s 1 Stop sold an alcoholic beverage to a 19-year-old confidential informant during a sheriff's office compliance check on Nov. 26, 2024, and imposed fines on both the employee and the licensee.

The finding followed testimony that on Nov. 26, 2024, at about 6:20 p.m., a county sheriff’s office confidential informant entered DJ’s 1 Stop in Mechanicsville, selected a 750-milliliter bottle of cotton candy grape wine and placed it on the counter. Sergeant Robert Merritt of the sheriff’s special operations division accompanied the informant. The clerk, later identified as Francis Bernard Istvan, completed the sale without asking for identification, county deputies told the board. Deputy Stephen Myers contacted the clerk on scene and told him he had sold to an underage informant; the clerk admitted he had not asked for ID.

Board counsel read the alleged violations as a breach of section 6-304 of the Alcoholic Beverages Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland and section 5.04(j) of the Alcohol Beverage Board of St. Mary’s County rules and regulations. Based on the facts and testimony, the board voted to fine the employee $150. The clerk, Francis Bernard Istvan, told the board, “I’m sorry for doing it. I have worked in St. Mary’s County serving alcohol for 25 years,” and described personal and health challenges he said affected his attention that day.

The board then heard the related case against the licensee and owners of DJ’s 1 Stop. Manmohan Singh Mali and Amores Malli (owners) acknowledged the incident and described steps taken after the compliance check: increasing signage, re-training staff, using point-of-sale ID-scanning software and removing the clerk from the schedule. Owner Manmohan Singh Mali said the employee had “lost his son,” had undergone surgeries and that “I have took Frank taken him off the schedule since this happens.” The board noted a prior similar violation in July 2022 that remains within the applicable review period.

Following discussion about the prior incident and what the board called the need for owner oversight, the board voted to fine the licensee $1,000, require RAS training for licensees, and apply the licensee’s prior held amount of $250 toward the penalty (making the immediate total due $1,250). The motion also directed the licensee to ensure stronger employee supervision. A board member noted the owner had already removed the employee from the counter and pledged further measures to prevent recurrence.

Outcomes and next steps: the board told both the employee and the licensee they have 10 days to pay the fines and may appeal to the Circuit Court for St. Mary’s County within 30 days of the decision.