Vol. 1, Ed. 31 — Mon Sep 14: Southern Glazer’s pays $12.5M to settle bribery probe

Southern Glazer’s agrees to pay $12.5 million to resolve a federal bribery investigation; Trump says he will lift the 10 percent Irish whiskey tariff; and the Sixth Circuit rules marijuana contracts unenforceable in federal court. For general information only — not legal advice.

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The NRBC Compliance Brief is a daily two-minute audio briefing on U.S. alcohol and hemp/THC regulation, covering federal agencies and all 50 states: TTB rulings and rulemaking, state alcohol authority actions, the federal hemp-ban timeline, THC-beverage rules, court decisions, taxes, tariffs, licensing, and enforcement. A new episode arrives every morning around 7 AM Eastern.

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This is the New Realm Compliance Brief, Volume One, Edition Thirty-One, for Monday, September Fourteenth.

Our top story: Southern Glazer's Wine and Spirits has agreed to pay twelve and a half million dollars to resolve a federal investigation by the United States Attorney's office in Northern California. Prosecutors said the nationwide distributor made years of improper payments, including cash, gift cards, flights, golf trips and luxury goods, to alcohol buyers at major California grocery chains, and concealed them through false invoices from third-party vendors. The company agreed to strengthen its compliance program and to cooperate with prosecutions of current or former employees. The takeaway for suppliers, distributors and retailers: federal prosecutors, not just state alcohol regulators, are policing trade-practice rules, so keep buyer-facing incentives documented and within the law.

In other federal news, President Trump said Sunday at a golf tournament in Ireland that he will remove the ten percent tariff on Irish whiskey, a rate he had reduced from fifteen percent in July. No timing was announced, and importers should watch for the formal action before adjusting plans.

Also, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a thirty-one point eight million dollar jury verdict, ruling that federal courts cannot enforce marijuana contracts because performing them requires violating federal drug law. The panel said this year's move of marijuana to Schedule Three does not change that.

Around the states: in New York, Marijuana Moment reports the governor's office may crack down on THC drinks sold in grocery and retail outlets outside licensed channels.

On the radar: December eleventh remains the effective date of the federal hemp THC ban after the delay signed earlier this month. And excise taxpayers who pay electronically face a September twenty-ninth due date for the September sixteenth through twenty-sixth tax period.

Full details and source links are in today's email. This update is for general information only. It is not legal advice.