Washington – The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) announced that the wholesaler and importer basic permits issued to Harry Tracy Baker IV, dba Manormead have been revoked following issuance of a Consent Order issued by Administrative Law Judge Richard L. Sippel. Manormead, a Santa Barbara, California wholesaler and importer had been charged by ATF with shipping over 500,000 cases of distilled spirits, worth over $24 million dollars to the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation in upstate New York in violation of Federal and New York State law. Specifically, Manormead’s permits were revoked as a result of violations of the Webb-Kenyon Act and the Twenty-First Amendment of the United States Constitution. ATF alleged that Manormead shipped and introduced distilled spirits into New York State for distribution and sale to buyers who were not registered with the State of New York as alcohol distributors and with introducing intoxicating liquor onto the Mohawk Reservation. Manormead was also charged with allowing other parties to control its Federal permit as a wholesaler of alcohol beverages.

The St. Regis Mohawk Reservation, located along the U.S. and Canadian border has been the focal point of large scale smuggling of alcohol and tobacco to Canada to avoid Canadian taxes. In a case last year unrelated to Manormead, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York obtained criminal indictments against twenty-three individuals for money laundering, currency reporting violations and defrauding the United States and Canada of taxes. The scheme involved individuals employing warehouses located on or near the St. Regis Mohawk Reservation as staging areas for the smuggling of liquor and cigarettes into Canada.

Revocation of Manormead’s federal permit to wholesale alcohol beverages represents the first time ATF has taken such action with regard to licensees suspected of engaging in alcohol diversion activities and is part of an intensified enforcement action by ATF into the growing problem of alcohol smuggling and diversion.

For further information visit ATF’s web site at www.atf.treas.gov, or contact ATF’s Public Information Division at (202) 927-8500.