Golf club fined for alcohol, gambling violations

Zach Despart | Free Press Staff Writer

The Vermont Liquor Control Board on Wednesday fined the Burlington Country Club after state investigators discovered members drinking after hours during an illegal poker game in August.

The board also suspended the private club's liquor license for a weekend in April 2016.

“This was a little slip up on a DLC regulation,” said Jason Shattie, the club's general manager. “Obviously the country club doesn’t promote gambling, and I’d like to think we have a lot more to offer the community."

The country club, whose 650 members pay around $5,000 in yearly dues, conceded to violating two liquor control regulations, by serving alcohol after hours and permitting gambling.

Bill Goggins, director of the liquor department's licensing and enforcement division, said he believes the penalty will deter the club from violating the law in the future.

Acting on an anonymous tip, Department of Liquor Control Investigator Matthew Gonyo visited the country club at 2:30 a.m. on Aug. 28.

Gonyo's report states he watched for 40 minutes as a group of seven played cards and drank in a small room at the club. The investigator said he witnessed the players exchange cash in hundred-dollar increments and drink continuously. A bartender was also present.

Around 3:10 a.m., Gonyo said he attempted to enter the club but discovered all the doors to be locked. He used a flashlight to alert the bartender, who let Gonyo in.

Gonyo identified himself and asked the men to stop playing. Gonyo said the players agreed to stop after the current hand, but added the men "all seemed rather indifferent regarding my presence."

Gonyo told the men the after-hours game was a violation of state liquor law, and requested each man to produce identification. According to the investigator's report, the men seated around the felted table were: Benjamin Sawyer, Marcel Lemay, Jong Cherryholmes, Robert Lumbra, Adam Stone, Andy Orringer and James Carroll.

As the men finished their game, Gonyo said he witnessed Carroll settle a cash debt of $650 and overheard the man plan a future game the following week.

"I further observed Orringer counting out approximately $1,000 in hundred dollar bills in winnings also right in front of me," Gonyo added.

During an interview, Gonyo said the bartender, University of Vermont student Jedman Snow, said he worked a poker game "at least once a month" for the year he had worked at the country club. Snow admitted to serving alcohol at the games, which he said lasted until 3:30 to 4 a.m.

State law bars establishments from serving alcohol past 2 a.m, and liquor licensees must obtain a permit from the Liquor Control Board in order to play host to gambling.

In a letter to the Department of Liquor Control three days after the raid, Shattie, the club's general manger, denied any money changed hands during the poker game that evening.

"The individuals in the Ross Room that night were playing a 'gentleman's game of poker' utilizing poker chips only," Shattie wrote.

Shattie told the Burlington Free Press on Thursday that he was surprised to later learn the men were playing with cash, which he said was also a violation of club rules. Shattie said blame for the alcohol violation lies with Snow, the bartender, and said he was unaware of any previous money games played by members.

Goggins, of the liquor department, said the investigation led him to conclude otherwise.

“From what I understood, it seemed like a pretty routine thing,” Goggins said of the poker games.

The players named in the liquor control report were reluctant to speak with the Burlington Free Press. Orringer, a longtime Secret Service agent, declined to speak about the game.

"I don't comment on my personal life," Orringer said.

Reached by phone, Lemay and Lumbra declined to answer questions. Cherryholmes and Stone did not respond to requests for comment.

After concluding an investigation and consulting with attorneys for the country club, the Liquor Control Board on Wednesday fined the club $500 and revoked its liquor license for April 1 and 2. Snow, the bartender, told investigators the club suspended him for two weeks for serving alcohol after hours.

WPTZ first reported on the state investigation Wednesday.

Contact Zach Despart at 651-4826 or zdespart@burlingtonfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ZachDespart.