A Maryland man has been sentenced to prison for stealing as much as $1.5 million worth of fine wine.
Wine collectors and others paid fees to have pricey, prized bottles transported to and stored at Safe Harbour Wine Storage in Glen Burnie.
Despite the name, the wine wasn’t safe.
The owner of the company, 54-year-old William Lamont Holder, of Hanover, pleaded guilty in May to a federal wire fraud charge for stealing wine.
According to his plea agreement, while collecting clients’ monthly storage fees and accepting additional bottles for storage, Holder secretly sold and shipped their wine to buyers around the country and pocketed the profits for his own personal use.
The scheme lasted almost five years — from early 2013 to late 2017 — even though Holder did not have a license to sell wine in Maryland.
Holder has been sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution.
