Nine indicted over $100k Bourbon heist

Nine members of a criminal gang have been indicted over the theft of at least US$100,000 worth of Bourbon over a seven-year period from top producers including Buffalo Trace and Wild Turkey.

Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon

Kentucky authorities confirmed on Tuesday that nine people had been charged with engaging in organised crime, accusing them of being part of a syndicate that dealt in stolen Bourbon and anabolic steroids.

Three of those charged worked at the distilleries targeted including Gilbert Curtsinger who worked at Buffalo Trace and was described as the group’s leader. Another defendant also worked at Buffalo Trace while a third worked at the Wild Turkey distillery.

Over a seven year period, the crime ring is believed to have stolen vast amounts of Bourbon with the recovered whiskey alone said to be worth at least $100,000, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, which included both bottles and barrels. One recovered barrel contained 17-year-old Eagle Rare Bourbon valued at $11,000 to $12,000. Stolen barrels were stashed by the gang until customers were found.

While the thefts went largely undetected, an inquiry was launched in 2013 after 65 cases of Pappy Van Winkle went missing, however authorities said misconduct by the gang could have started as early as January 2008. Produced by Buffalo Trace, Pappy Van Winkle is among the world’s most expensive bourbon.

Curtsinger, 45, was arrested last month after investigators acting on a tip found five barrels of Wild Turkey bourbon at his home, which led to much of the evidence used to bring charges.

“They essentially functioned as a group at the behest of Mr Curtsinger as to him obtaining these items and then distributing them through these other individuals,” Zachary M Becker, an assistant commonwealth’s attorney, said at a news conference in Kentucky, as reported by the New York Times. “You had some rogue employees who took advantage of both the trust of their companies and their knowledge of the security measures to steal the barrels and bottles of Bourbon from these two distilleries,” said Becker.

Becker said 15 of the recovered barrels held Wild Turkey whiskey and two other barrels were filled with whiskey made at Buffalo Trace, however authorities could not be certain they had recovered the Pappy Van Winkle that had  first sparked the inquiry.

In a statement read in at the conference in Kentucky, the Buffalo Trace and Wild Turkey distilleries said: “We take this matter very seriously and support the prosecution of anyone found in violation of state or federal government laws.”

All nine defendants are charged with engaging in organised crime as members of a criminal syndicate.