NAPA — Time and time again, booze has ruined Jeffry Hill’s life.
In 2015, the former Napa Valley winemaker spent four months in jail for stealing grapes from a competitor. The following year, he was charged in a wine and grape juice mislabeling scheme that prosecutors say sold or attempted to sell $2.5 million worth of misrepresented wine.
Having finally pleaded guilty to fraud and been sentenced to probation last January, Hill has publicly apologized, blaming his past crimes on an “addiction to alcohol.”
“I thought I was in control…I lost sight of my values. I ignored responsibilities. I allowed my ego and drinking to dictate my priorities,” Hill wrote in an apology letter to the court. He later added, “In that blind pursuit, I destroyed not just my own future but caused real harm to people who trusted me.”
He said he got sober in 2014, and continues working “tirelessly” to make amends. He has done volunteer work like building playgrounds for children, philanthropy, like helping a family of war refugees escape the Ukraine, or traveling to the Middle East to help farmers. He wrote that he approaches life “responsibly, transparently and with humility” because, “I fear repeating harm.”
While Hill avoided federal prison — his charges carried up to 20 years — the second part of his sentence may be the most bitter. He will likely have to pay no less than $500,000 in restitution, though the final amount has yet to be determined.
Though Hill was indicted in November 2016, the financial crimes occurred three years earlier, as did his separately-prosecuted grand theft of grapes. At the time he had his own Napa Valley winery, the Hill Wine Company, but falsely claimed grapes were being grown there when he was really getting them elsewhere for a cheaper price, prosecutors said.
The lie allowed him to overcharge for wine and grape juice. To cover his tracks, he altered shipping labels, changed paperwork, gave growers and truckers false information, and told grape growers outside the area to deny he was buying from them, prosecutors said in court filings.
His case dragged on for nearly a decade with no result, though exactly why remains a secret. Out of 177 hearings and document filings in his federal case, 85 have been placed under seal.
Prosecutors asked for an 18-month prison sentence, arguing the scheme was “sophisticated.” Chief United States District Judge Richard Seeborg implemented the three-year probation term instead.
The sentence comes during stressful times for the once invincible wine industry. Historically low grape harvests and a decline of alcohol consumption across the board have caused unease and recent layoffs. Last year, another winery owner, Brian Fleury, pleaded guilty to federal charges of scheming keeping some revenue “off the books,” according to court records.
