Every bottle of AleSmith San Diego Pale Ale .394 that is sold generates a donation to the Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation, the namesake charity established by the major league icon at the height of his Hall of Fame career.

But according to the California Attorney General’s Office, the state agency that regulates tax-exempt organizations, the Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation has been out of compliance with certain state registration requirements since since 2009, long before AleSmith teamed up with the Gwynns to sell beer.

The charity accountant and AleSmith executive describe the problem as a minor oversight or bookkeeping error that was on the way to being corrected days after the inquiry about the registration status.

“To me, it feels like it’s just clerical,” said Peter Zien, the AleSmith owner and chief executive officer. “They may have missed these registrations, but I have the utmost respect for the things TAG accomplishes.”


Alicia Gwynn, who lost her husband to cancer in 2014, declined to comment. She referred questions to her Florida accountant, Paul Franson. Franson, who has prepared the Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation tax filings since 2010, said the delinquency was the result of a simple mistake that has since been rectified.

“It kind of fell through the cracks,” he said by telephone. “Normally when you miss a filing like that the agency would say, ‘Hey, you missed something.’ But this was five years running. I should have seen that.”

The July 13 letter from the Attorney General’s Office says the foundation is delinquent and must submit registration letters and the accompanying fees for each of the years between 2011 and 2015. It also demands copies of annual federal tax filings for those same years.

“Failure to timely file required reports violates Government Code section 12586 and may result in the suspension or revocation of your registration,” the letter states.


A U-T Watchdog review of public documents related to the charity show several discrepancies.

The charity’s 2009 tax filing shows net assets of more than $1.3 million at the end of the fiscal year while the 2010 report lists beginning and year-end net assets of less than $3,000. There is no mention of or explanation for the change.

Franson said the $1 million-plus in charitable assets was on deposit with the San Diego Foundation, the community foundation that manages charitable assets for thousands of families across the county.

He provided a statement from the San Diego Foundation indicating that the Tony Gwynn Fund held a balance of almost $1.2 million at the close of 2016.


“There is no missing $1 million,” Franson wrote in a follow-up statement.

He did not respond to follow-up questions about why Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation assets were moved to the San Diego Foundation’s Tony Gwynn Fund or why the transaction does not appear on public tax filings.

Records also show the group has used different Employer Identification Numbers, or EINs, in its dealings with the state and federal governments.

For example, the 2009 tax return for the foundation lists an EIN that ends with -332. The 2010 document shares the same first six digits and ends with -324.


Franson ascribed the discrepancies to typographical errors.

“Even though the tax returns came to the IRS with and incorrect federal ID number, they were able to locate where the tax return should have been filed,” Franson said.

Tony Gwynn spent his entire 20-year career with the San Diego Padres, roaming right field at Qualcomm Stadium and menacing pitchers across the National League.

In 1994, Gwynn hit a league-best .394, becoming the first player in decades to approach the hallowed .400 batting average. He racked up more than 3,100 hits before hanging up his No. 19 jersey following the 2001 season.


The Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation was established in 1995. Its mission: “To promote the health, social education, vocational and character development of youth and their families. Program services related to educational services for youth and their families.”

According to the charity bylaws, the foundation was set up with five original board members, including Tony and Alicia Gwynn, a San Diego Padres representative, a lawyer and Gwynn’s former agent.

The bylaws say the charity will have no fewer than three members and “when not so designated, the number of directors shall (be) five.”

Dating back as far as 2001, however, the nonprofit’s tax returns list Anthony Gwynn and Alicia Gwynn as the sole directors and officers of the corporation.


For the 2015 tax year, the first year following the death of the Tony Gwynn, Alicia Gwynn is the only board member listed on federal tax records. She reported working 20 hours a week and accepting a $10,000 salary for that year.

Zien, the AleSmith owner who signed a five-year marketing deal with the Gwynns in 2014, said that to his knowledge, the tax records are incomplete regarding board membership.

“The lawyers have vetted all this out,” he said. “There are proper board members — I know a few of them. I know it’s not just a board of one. Everything has to be on the up and up with any partner we choose to work with and there has to be integrity involved.”

According to AleSmith, a portion of every sale of .394 pale ale is directed to the Gwynn family and to the Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation. At the AleSmith Brewing Co. tasting room in Miramar, there is a corner museum memorializing Tony Gwynn’s major league exploits. A donation box inside the door invites fans to contribute to the Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation.


Records from the California Secretary of State’s Office show Alicia Gwynn launched a for-profit company called Gwynndustries in November 2015. The enterprise promotes the Tony and Alicia Gwynn Foundation and also markets a youth baseball camp, a catering service, food truck and barbecues sauces.

Gwynn Foods, a company that officially dissolved in 2009, is now housed under the Gwynndustries Inc. umbrella. Alicia Gwynn also is nurturing a music career and earlier this year released the single “Dance” on iTunes.

It is not clear how much the deal between AleSmith and the Gwynn family generates for the charity. Zien declined to release a copy of the agreement, saying it was not up to him to disclose private business contracts.

The foundation tax filing lists unspecified contributions of about $95,000 for 2015, and $57,000 of that was paid to two employees. The foundation reportedly awarded grants worth $23,000 in 2014 and none the following year.


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jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonald