NAPA — Time and time again, alcohol has derailed 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 falsely marketed wine.
After pleading guilty to fraud and being sentenced to probation last January, Hill has publicly apologized, blaming his crimes on what he described as 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 a 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 volunteered building playgrounds for children, supported philanthropic efforts including helping a family of war refugees escape Ukraine and traveled to the Middle East to assist farmers. He wrote that he now approaches life “responsibly, transparently and with humility” because “I fear repeating harm.”
While Hill avoided federal prison — his charges carried a potential 20-year sentence — the second part of his punishment may prove most bitter. He will likely have to pay at least $500,000 in restitution, though the final amount has not been determined.
Although 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 operated the Hill Wine Co. but falsely claimed the grapes were grown there when he was sourcing them elsewhere at a lower cost, prosecutors said.
The deception allowed him to overcharge for wine and grape juice. To cover his tracks, prosecutors said, he altered shipping labels, falsified paperwork, provided misleading information to growers and truckers, and instructed out-of-area growers to deny selling to him.
The case stretched on for nearly a decade, though exactly why remains unclear. Of 177 hearings and filings in the federal case, 85 have been sealed.
Prosecutors sought an 18-month prison sentence, arguing the scheme was “sophisticated.” Chief U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg instead imposed a three-year probation term.
The sentence comes at a turbulent moment for the wine industry. Historically low grape harvests and declining alcohol consumption have fueled uncertainty and prompted recent layoffs. Last year, another winery owner, Brian Fleury, pleaded guilty to federal charges of keeping some revenue “off the books,” according to court records.
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