According to court documents the State of Florida has officially declined
prosecution of Liquor Group and Happy Vodka founder C.J. Eiras, following his
arrest in August 2012. Eiras was initially
charged with 69 felony counts related to bootlegging alcohol and avoiding the taxes on the alcohol by the Alcohol Beverage & Tobacco (ABT)
Division of the State of Florida. Eiras was set with a $2.25Million Dollar bond and faced
more than 100 years jail time for those charges. Just hours after the arrest, Eiras was
bonded out of jail and the State records show that there was never any court
hearings held in the case after this bonded release.
The Division Chief of the State
Attorney Office Special Prosecution Division Mr. Dan Skinner handled the case from inception due to the
largess of the charges and the magnitude of the bond requested by the
State. The final Statement filed by
Skinner with the Court notes: "After reviewing the evidence in the above
styled case, the undersigned Assistant State Attorney declines to prosecute
this defendant (Eiras) for these charges, and any civil charges..."
This seems to put to rest the claims that Eiras was a "bootlegger" and
operating a business avoiding taxes on alcohol.
Eiras, a successful philanthropist
and well know figure in the alcohol industry made a company statement that he is "pleased
that the State Attorney office took the time to carefully review the evidence
and facts to determine that there was no wrong doing on my part." Eiras has been in the news over the years as a speaker for the World Trade Association and the NASDAQ VICEX Fund, and it will be of interest to see if this development will signal a new era of communication with Regulators and the alcohol industry as a whole.
Attorney Mitch Stone whom represented Eiras in this case
held a press conference to exonerate Eiras and to clear the air on the charges
that are now dismissed.
