Former California executives of top alcohol distributor charged in alleged bribery, obstruction scheme

By Carlos E. Castañeda

A federal grand jury indicted five former California executives of U.S. alcohol distribution giant Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits for their alleged roles in a years-long bribery and obstruction scheme to control wine placement at grocery stores across the state, prosecutors announced.   

In a press release on Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said the alleged scheme involved bribing grocery store employees to increase purchases of certain alcohol brands and obstructing investigations into the bribes by creating fake financial documents.  

The former employees of the company, listed in court documents as Distributor-1, were identified as Michael Dehdashtian, 48, of Lake Forest; Ryan Dow, 40, of Upland; Stephen Magliocco, 47, of Trabuco Canyon; Loratina Muscara, 64, of Livermore; and Adrian Ruiz, 54, of Corona. 

While the alcohol distributor was not named in the indictment, details from the indictment make it clear that it is Southern Glazer, the nation’s largest alcohol distributor, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The grocery involved was also not named, but the Chronicle identified it as Albertsons in Northern California and its Vons subsidiary in Southern California.

According to the indictment filed on Tuesday, between 2016 and 2024, the employees tried to conceal the bribes and their funding by having approved vendors of Distributor-1 and some of its alcohol suppliers issue false invoices purporting to be for legitimate business expenses. In reality, the money went to items such as prepaid gift cards valued at up to $1,000 each, along with luxury and designer watches, purses, golf trips, and exercise equipment, prosecutors said.  

The five were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery and obstruct investigations. Magliocco, Muscara and Ruiz were also charged with falsification of records to obstruct investigations.  

The indictment also alleged that Idaho resident Michael Sean Salene, 60, who most recently worked as a sales executive for Roots Run Deep Winery in Napa, bribed Albertsons’ head alcohol buyer, lied to investigators when questioned about the alleged bribes, and falsified invoices. Salene was charged with Travel Act bribery and making false statements. 

Albertsons’ former top wine buyer, Patrick Briones, pleaded guilty in federal court in October 2025 to commercial bribery and conspiracy. Other people involved, including wine suppliers Bryan Barnes, John Herzog, and Matthew Adler, pleaded guilty last year to the same charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The defendants charged in Tuesday’s indictment were scheduled to make their initial appearances in federal court in Oakland on March 25.