DA charges beverage store owner from East Quogue with two felonies

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An East Quogue man who owns beverage stores on the East End was convicted of two felonies last month after prosecutors said he doctored a state order to pay outstanding taxes, according to the Suffolk County district attorney’s office.

On June 6, 2006, Matthew Worrell, 56, altered a New York State Department of Taxation and Finance document to read that he owed $10,145.27 in unpaid sales taxes related to his businesses, rather than the actual amount of $100,145.27, according to Robert Clifford, a spokesman for Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota.

On February 9, following a two-day bench trial, Mr. Worrell was found guilty by New York State Supreme Court Judge William Condon of offering a false instrument for filing in the first degree and criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree, both felonies, according to Mr. Clifford.

Mr. Worrell has been free since his conviction, and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 9. He faces a maximum of 28 months to seven years in prison, according to Mr. Clifford.

The defendant declined to comment when reached on Tuesday, March 16.

Edward Burke, Mr. Worrell’s attorney, on Wednesday described his client as an “upstanding” and “active” member of the community who has had no prior run-ins with the law. Mr. Burke said he could not comment on the details of the case because sentencing is still pending.

Mr. Worrell owed the $100,145.27 in unpaid taxes for the years of 1999 to 2002, according to Mr. Clifford. Mr. Worrell changed the amount listed on the 2006 Department of Taxation and Finance order stating that he owed the money, and faxed the document back to an auditor at the Hauppauge office of the tax department’s Bureau of Conciliation and Mediation Services, Mr. Clifford said.

Authorities with the district attorney’s office arrested Mr. Worrell on March 27, 2007, following an investigation, Mr. Clifford said. Mr. Worrell was indicted by a grand jury on the two felony charges on March 13, 2009.

Mr. Worrell is the president of Hampton Beverage and Water Inc., located on Montauk Highway in Hampton Bays, and Sag Harbor Beverage Inc., located on Division Street in Sag Harbor. He is also listed as a lender for The Liquor Store Inc., located at Pantigo Place in East Hampton, according to New York State Liquor Authority records. Those records show that Mr. Worrell holds wholesale liquor licenses for the first two businesses and a retail liquor license at the East Hampton business.

New York State law states that no one holding a liquor license can “knowingly employ in connection with his business in any capacity whatsoever” a convicted felon. That law does not apply to people who hold licenses to sell alcoholic beverages “at retail for off-premises consumption,” and a felon can be exempted for “good conduct” and other conditions.

Michael Smith, a spokesman for the New York State Liquor Authority, could not say whether or not Mr. Worrell would lose his liquor licenses as a result of his conviction.