March 2, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
A little more than a month after being cited by Smithville Police for illegally selling alcohol to someone underage, a clerk at a local liquor store has done it again.
Brandy Jackson, a clerk at Smithville Discount Wine & Spirits located at 413 East Broad Street, will be back in General Sessions Court for the same offense on March 16 along with employees of two other businesses, Trina Guerra of Los Lobos Restaurant at 106 East Broad Street and Jose Barajas of Fiesta Jalisco Restaurant at 130 Walmart Drive.
Smithville Police Chief Mark Collins told WJLE Thursday that Jackson, Guerra, and Barajas were cited after making illegal sales to a 19-year-old informant working for the Smithville Police Department and agents of the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission who conducted the undercover investigation Thursday.
According to Chief Collins, Jackson illegally sold the informant a bottle of wine from the liquor store while at the two restaurants, Guerra and Barajas served beer to the undercover informant for the purposes of consumption while on the premises.
In addition to the citations against these employees, the business owners will have to make an appearance before the Smithville Beer Board due to the violations. Proprietors of the liquor store will also have to answer to the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission, which issued their liquor license.
In January, Jackson and clerks from six other local stores were cited by Smithville Police for illegally selling beer, or cigarettes, or vape products after a previous undercover investigation.
Later during their appearance in General Sessions Court, Judge Brandon Cox approved an informal diversion in each case including for Jackson. According to the terms, after six months if the clerks have no further offenses and pay their court costs, the cases are to be dismissed. That may not hold true now for Jackson since she has been cited again.