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Last updated on Wednesday, August 22, 2018
(LINTON) - A warrant has been issued for the owner of Huckleberry Hideout in Linton for making and selling alcohol without a permit.
In July, two state excise police officers working undercover visited the establishment. They ordered a cheese- and-crackers plate, and owner Cheryl Riddle offered samples of her blackberry and coconut wines.
She followed up with tastings of five other wines she produces, then showed the "couple" around the historic brick building on Main Street, telling them the structure is haunted.
Riddle told them most of the wine she sells is produced at her Huckleberry Hill Winery east of Bloomfield, but that some also was made in the basement of her Linton restaurant.
The excise officers bought a $20 bottle of blackberry wine, transported it to their Vincennes office and marked it as evidence.
Because, according to court documents, 53-year-old Riddle, who was an obstetric nurse before turning to wine making as a profession, never applied for or received a license to make or sell the beverage at her Linton establishment.
Excise records show the Bargersville woman has a state-issued Farm Winery permit for her business on Ind. 45, but no permission to make or sell wine at the Linton restaurant.
That permit allows Riddle to sell her 40 varieties of wine at non-profit farmers' markets, which she does, but does not allow the sale or production of wine at other sites without permission from the state alcoholic beverage commission - which Riddle does not have.
Last Friday, the Greene County Prosecutor's Office filed a felony charge of maintaining a common nuisance against Riddle, along with four misdemeanors: making an alcoholic beverage without a permit, sale of alcoholic beverages without a permit, unauthorized furnishing of an alcoholic beverage and possession of untaxed beverages.
On Tuesday, Greene Superior Court Judge Dena Martin issued a warrant for Riddle's arrest. Court records show the Bloomington law firm Mallor Grodner LLP entered an appearance in court for Riddle Monday; she had not been arrested as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Information Herald Times, https://www.heraldtimesonline.com
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