The Self-Funding ‘Victim’ of the Criminal Justice System
David Trone, founder of the Total Wine chain, is trying to draw a contrast with his primary opponent, a former prosecutor, by saying he’s been caught up in the system. It was for business violations. . .
EARLY ON IN THE RACE, TRONE’S COMPANY TOTAL WINE was embroiled in a lawsuit, since settled, due to its unwillingness to cooperate with the Federal Trade Commission regarding an ongoing investigation into alcohol distributor Southern Glazer’s. The nature of the pending antitrust lawsuit would inherently feature SouthernGlazer’s dealing with Total Wine, one of the largest distributors and retailers of alcohol.
Over the course of Total Wine’s history, Trone’s company routinely flouted state anti-monopoly laws protecting consumers and independent businesses from aggressive practices by big-box chains. Across several states, Total Wine was found guilty of breaking minimum-pricing laws, leading to fines of tens of thousands of dollars or the suspension of its liquor licenses.
In response to questions about his company’s track record and the tenuous connection to a broken criminal justice system, Trone’s campaign pointed to an incident back in the 1990s where state regulators went after him and his business.
The charges were related to a scheme Trone orchestrated in Pennsylvania to bypass state restrictions on the number of liquor stores one company could set up. He enlisted his wife, brother, and several friends to set up stores in their name instead, all of which would hire Trone’s own consultancy firm to actually run the business. It was effectively a clever accounting trick that drew the attention of the state.
Trone attributes the prosecution to an overeager and corrupt state attorney general, Ernest Preate, who did later go to prison for other reasons. The case against Trone was dragged out and never led to a conviction.
“David and members of his family were wrongfully arrested and prosecuted by a career politician,” the campaign said. “David knows he prevailed in court because he had the resources to prove his innocence in a criminal justice system too often stacked in favor of the white and the wealthy.”
The circumstances of the case are certainly mired by Preate’s dealings. But what’s clear is that after that run-in with the law, Total Wine pivoted its strategy. Trone discovered he could just as easily exert political influence to preemptively change state laws that were getting in the way of his business ambitions. He’s launched extensive lobbying campaigns to deregulate minimum pricing and other restrictions against big-box liquor stores and even backed legal efforts that went all the way to the Supreme Court, which overturned Tennessee licensing rules.
“I’ve passed more laws than most politicians,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post in 2016 when he was running for Congress, regarding his lobbying prowess. “I sign my checks to buy access.”
https://prospect.org/politics/2024-03-22-david-trone-self-funding-victim-criminal-justice/
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