Five Former Employees Of Alcohol Distribution Company And Salesman For Napa Winery Charged In Bribery And Obstruction Scheme

OAKLAND - A federal grand jury has indicted five former employees of an alcohol distribution company with offices in Northern and Southern California for their roles in a scheme to bribe grocery store alcohol buyers and conceal bribes with false and forged financial documentation. A salesman for a Napa winery was also charged with bribery and making false statements.

According to the indictment filed yesterday, between at least 2016 and 2024, former employees of an alcohol distribution company identified as Distributor-1 - Stephen Magliocco, 47, of Trabuco Canyon, Calif., Michael Dehdashtian, 48, of Lake Forest, Calif., Adrian Ruiz, 54, of Corona, Calif., Ryan Dow, 40, of Upland, Calif., and Loratina Muscara, 64, of Livermore, Calif., and their co-conspirators - devised and participated in a scheme to provide bribes to employees of retail grocery chains to increase the purchases of certain alcohol brands and to obstruct any investigations into the bribes by creating and maintaining false financial documents.

The indictment explains that employees and suppliers of Distributor-1 knew that the distribution company and its partners were prohibited from paying bribes to alcohol retailers and wholesalers to purchase certain brands to the exclusion of others, and that the distribution company was subject to audit and inspection by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), which is one of the federal entities responsible for ensuring compliance with trade practice laws and regulations.

The five former employees of Distributor-1 allegedly took steps to conceal the bribes paid to employees of grocery store chains in California and the funding of those bribes, including using approved vendors of Distributor-1 and some of its alcohol suppliers to issue false invoices purporting to be for a legitimate business expense, but which in reality funded the purchase of prepaid gift cards valued at up to $1,000 each, luxury and designer items such as watches, purses, and golf and exercise equipment, among other things.

The indictment further alleges that Michael Sean Salene, 60, of Garden City, Idaho, an employee salesman for a Napa winery, bribed the head alcohol buyer for a large national grocery store chain that operates approximately 300 stores in California, lied to investigators when questioned about those bribes, and falsified invoices.

Magliocco, Dehdashtian, Ruiz, Dow, and Muscara are each charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and obstruct investigations. Magliocco, Ruiz, and Muscara are also charged with falsification of records to obstruct investigations. Salene is charged with Travel Act bribery and making false statements.

An indictment merely alleges that crimes have been committed, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, defendants face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count of conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371, interstate travel in aid of racketeering enterprise - bribery in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1952(a)(3), and false statements in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2); and 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for falsification of records to obstruct investigations in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1519. Any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553.

The defendants charged in today's indictment are currently scheduled to make their appearances in federal court in Oakland on March 25, 2026.

United States Attorney Craig H. Missakian and Kareem Carter, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington, D.C. Field Office made the announcement.

This case is being prosecuted by the National Security & Special Prosecutions Section of the United States Attorney's Office. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by IRS-CI and TTB.

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Additional defendants have to date pleaded guilty or otherwise admitted their roles in this scheme and related violations: