The ABC almost always conducts clean stings for sales to minors. We have been preaching this for more than three decades.
Almost always.
The Tennessee ABC lost an administrative hearing for a sale to minor sting at Lookout Winery near Chattanooga. A copy of the winery’s proposed Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law is attached. Based on the winery’s statement of the facts, it appears that the ABC failed to follow its own internal procedures. This was not a clean sting.
We have not seen a copy of the final order. The case was decided earlier this year.
Sting, from the 1980’s band The Police, sings:
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my
I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle, yeah
Sale to Minor Stings.
The ABC generally conducts clean stings that involve an individual that is really under the age of 21. The person presents their valid Tennessee driver's license that shows that the individual is under 21.
No trickery needed. Roughly one fourth of servers and clerks fail sale to minor stings. They fail to ask for identification or misread the age.
Defending Against a Sale to Minor Sting.
Tennessee liquor businesses are regularly stung by ABC agents, beer boards and local law enforcement. Following a sting, if there is any question about whether the sting was clean, we encourage the business to immediately investigate and document all facts. Interview and keep notes of interviews with all witnesses. Take a careful look at and preserve video recordings.
Although the clerk or server that failed the sting may claim chicanery, most of the time, there is no evidence to support a belief that the agent swapped IDs, showed someone else's ID or other claims of deception.
It can be criminal for an informant or ABC agent to lie about their age in a sting. It is a crime for a minor to attempt to purchase alcohol in Tennessee.
We suspect the ABC will continue to try their best to conduct clean stings. Now more than ever.