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Liquor Issues

by Fern Shen5:48 pmOct 23, 20130

Marijuana, crack and “a little bit of heroin”

Above: Reform at the Baltimore Liquor Board is a work in progress.

Lots of violations – some pretty serious – came before the Board of Liquor License Commissioners at their Sept. 26 hearing, but none, as handled by the  commissioners, raised any major issues from the highly-critical audit of the panel released in April.

That was the conclusion of Becky Lundberg Witt, of the Community Law Center, in her report on the meeting for their “Booze News” blog.

The commissioners heard testimony from police regarding several alleged violations at Bill’s Cafe, at 6701 Holabird Avenue: including that the names of the people identified as the dj and bartender were not displayed on the premises and that live music without permission from the board.

A Grab Bag of Drugs

Police also testified about drug transactions at the establishment, which licensee Nicolaos Trintis denied, saying he had no idea employees were trafficking in drugs at the bar.

According to Witt’s account, police testified that on a Feb. 15, 2013 visit they found “twenty $20 vials of crack cocaine, a “very little loose rock cocaine,” a “little bit of heroin” and “a bag of marijuana in the DJ booth.”

The commissioners found Trintis in violation on each of the charges and fined him $500 for the drug-related violations, Witt said.

“Trinitis testified that he has been a licensee since 1973 and that the area around the bar has decayed rapidly in recent years,” she wrote. “He said that he tries to monitor what goes on in the bar and to work with the police department.”

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