Carroll County liquor board fines Gateway Liquors $400 for sale to minor, dismisses training violation

The Carroll County Liquor Board found Gateway Liquors (Nam and Grama LLC) culpable of selling alcohol to a minor and ordered the establishment to pay a $400 fine within 30 days, the board announced after a violation hearing in which inspectors and witnesses testified.

Inspector William Ledley told the board he sent an underage volunteer into Gateway Liquors on Aug. 20, 2025; the volunteer returned with a purchased 12-pack of Twisted Tea and ledley said the clerk “never asked to volunteer for his identification and sold him the alcohol.” Ledley added that the employee on duty at the time, Christopher Schwing, “admitted to selling the underage volunteer the alcohol” and the inspector photographed the item and filed a violation.

At the hearing the board also considered a second charge alleging noncompliance with alcohol-awareness training requirements. Inspectors and staff noted confusion in the office files over the licensee’s name—documents and certificates in the record appeared under variants of Namrata Kharka Basnet and Namrata Basnet—which prompted the board to request copies of the licensee’s certificate and identification. After reviewing testimony and records the board dismissed the training noncompliance count for lack of supporting evidence.

Owner and licensee Namrata Kharka Basnet addressed the board and acknowledged the incident; she and an adviser explained that the store had recently relocated and that, on the day in question, she stepped away briefly to retrieve an internet cable while awaiting a Maryland Lottery inspection. A representative told the board the person who made the sale was a trainee and that the owner had instructed the trainee not to complete sales. The trainee, Christopher Schwing, testified he was helping set up the store, was not yet an on‑payroll clerk, and completed the sale because he believed the store was open for transactions.

“I was there helping set up the store… somebody came in, and I figured that… the store was open that I’ll go ahead and make the transaction not knowing that,” Schwing said in his testimony. He told the board he is willing to participate in the diversion program referenced by the state's attorney’s office.

In deliberations the board identified aggravating factors—this was the first inspection at the new location and a follow-up check later also failed—and mitigating circumstances, including the licensee’s representation that certification had been completed. Chairman and fellow commissioners moved that the training noncompliance charge be dismissed but that the sale-to-minor violation warranted a sanction. The motion passed; the board directed staff to finalize paperwork and to coordinate corrections of the name discrepancies in licensing records.

The board’s written order requires payment of the $400 fine within 30 days of official notice. Members also said staff will follow up with the state's attorney’s office on diversion program details for the employee and will update the board’s records to ensure the licensee’s name and certificates are consistent.

The hearing record (Case 6582) and evidence—including the inspector’s photographs—were entered at the hearing. The meeting adjourned with routine scheduling items to be settled for December.