The East Baton Rouge Parish Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and the State Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control fined Bogie’s Bar and Grill for selling and serving alcohol to underage patrons in November. Five or six undercover agents raided the bar this past semester after the ATC received complaints of underage drinking on the premises. The ABC held its hearing Thursday.
The ABC fined Bogie’s $750 in addition to court costs for one count of sale to an underage patron, a 19-year-old ATC operative. The board also fined the bar $8,000 in addition to court costs for 16 counts of allowing possession and consumption of alcohol by underage patrons on the licensed premises. The ABC also plans to suspend the bar’s license for 16 days, but dates have not been set because Bogie’s plans to appeal today. The ATC held its hearing this past Friday and fined Bogie’s $5,000 for the same charges. The ATC matched the ABC’s decision to suspend the bar’s license for 16 days from March 27 to April 11. Bogie’s does not plan to appeal the ATC’s decision. Murphy Painter, ATC commissioner, said the ATC will send a letter to Michael Butler, Bogie’s owner, and Andrew Hodges, attorney at Keogh, Cox and Wilson Ltd., with information about the payment of the fines. Painter said Bogie’s will have 15 days after receiving the letter to pay the fines. Brant Thompson, ATC deputy commissioner, said Bogie’s employees will complete and pass a Responsible Vendor Training test. He said each employee must score 70 percent or higher to pass. Painter said the ATC’s intent is to maintain compliance with state law. “If we get complaints, we’re going to go out and investigate, and if when we investigate, and we find a matter that we think is in violation of the law, then we’re going to write the tickets and go forward with whatever the process that we have in place to maintain the integrity of the legislative intent and the laws of the state with regard to alcohol access by underage individuals in the state in Louisiana,” he said. Hodges said Bogie’s regulates identification as much as possible with computer technology. He said Bogie’s maintains a database of people allowed into the bar. “If anyone is caught using a fake ID, we turn them over to the state and the city,” Hodges said. “There’s lots of procedures that we have in place that we are utilizing to prevent underage people from entering the bar as well as people under 21 using fake IDs to be able to drink.” Hodges said he and his client did what was in the best interest of Bogie’s. “We are not admitting that happened, but we feel in the spirit of compromise and cooperation, we want the Board to know that we’re doing everything we can in compliance with the law, and we understand the agent’s position and the state’s position,” Hodges said.
—–Contact Angelle Barbazon [email protected]