Two businesses are placed on probation by Sparta Beer Board

Sparta Beer Board, which convened during the, on May 6, 2021, has handed down some penalties to two businesses that were accused of selling alcohol to persons under the age of 21.

Case Number 93CT1-22121-TR-3963, City of Sparta vs. Alcorn’s Market, and Case Number 93-CT1-2021-TR-3964, City of Sparta vs. Dixie Mart were both brought by Chief of Police Doug Goff, along with Investigator Nick Dunn, who had discovered the underage sale of alcohol.

Neither Jayaben Patel, with Alcorn’s Market, nor Bhavnaben Patel, with Dixie Mart, denied the charges, although both said they didn’t know the sale had been made to a minor at the time of the incident. Bhavnaben Patel went so far as to admit that he had been the one who had made the sale as Investigator Dunn said the sale had been caught on video. Patel said that he was shocked to find that the customer making the purchase was under the legal age designated for purchasing alcohol and tobacco in the state of Tennessee. 

“I know that when we allow businesses to sell alcohol, they agree to train their employees to go through the process of checking the IDs,” Sparta Alderman Jerry Lowery told both defendants. “It’s really unacceptable what happened at your place of establishment.”

Lowery said he feels parents have enough problems raising their children without knowing the children can go to any place in Sparta as an underage person and buy alcohol.

“I am hoping that you will definitely take action to not let this happen again, because if it does, we will lean very severe and swift in our punishment,” Lowery said.

The beer board, which consists of Sparta’s mayor and the city’s aldermen, voted to follow a pre-established protocol and issue a $1,500 fine to each of the establishments as well as placing the liquor licenses of the two businesses into one-year probationary periods, reaffirming Lowrey’s strong warning and telling both men their licenses would be revoked should they be found guilty of selling alcohol to minors again while on probation.

Both defendants assured the board they would make additional efforts to increase training of their employees to ensure no further incidents occur.

According to Goff, no further action will be taken, and no criminal charges are to be filed since Sparta Beer Board is the governing court for these offenses, and their decision on fines and probations serve as closure for the cases.