Liquor store gets reprieve

A Flathead County District Court judge issued an order Wednesday allowing a Kalispell liquor store to remain open while its owner appeals the Montana Department of Revenue’s decision to shutter it.

Judge Ted Lympus issued a stay, at least temporarily delaying closure of BYOB Liquor, after a two-hour hearing during which owner Donna Glantz testified that she is nearing an agreement to sell the business.

The Revenue Department ruled in January that the store should lose its contract because of violations that include selling liquor-filled chocolates and failing to file paperwork with state regulators.

The issue came to light two years ago during an audit of the business.

Revenue Department attorney Joel Silverman said Donna Glantz is not behind in payments, but she has 60 days to pay $370,000 owed to the state.

Lympus issued the stay with the condition that the business avoid delinquency and that Donna Glantz’s husband, Jim Glantz, not be allowed on the premises. Lympus also stipulated that the business report its financial transactions weekly.

“This could all fall apart in a hurry if a delinquency does occur,” Lympus said.

Donna Glantz is accused of not providing sales invoices to the state, failing to collect payments at the point of sale and not collecting rent from her son Toby Glantz, who owns Polson Beer, Wine and Liquor.

Silverman said Wednesday that Toby Glantz also faces revocation of his liquor license and that there are four additional alleged violations pending against Donna Glantz in the state’s Office of Dispute Resolution.

David Stufft, the attorney for Donna Glantz, characterized the allegations as a vendetta against BYOB.

“We have no idea why they’re after Donna Glantz but they sure have come after her,” Stufft said during his closing remarks.

Through questioning, he asserted that the state never provided Donna Glantz with proper reporting documents and that other businesses have sold liquor-filled candies without interference from the Revenue Department.

He pulled two packages of the candies from a paper bag and asked Donna Glantz to cut into one with a knife as she sat on the witness stand. Silverman objected, stating that the action was irrelevant and outside the scope of the hearing.

Lympus repeatedly questioned Stufft on his line of inquiry, but allowed him to continue.

“Would you show the court there is absolutely no liquor in that candy?” Stufft asked, prompting Donna Glantz to hold the candy toward Lympus.

Columbia Falls Realtor Barb Riley testified that she is negotiating the sale of the business to Kalispell resident Joel Robinson and that the transaction was contingent on Lympus granting a stay in the case.

Robinson said he would walk away from the deal if the state closed the business.

On the stand, Donna Glantz also said she would be unable to post a $500,000 bond requested by the state.

Such a payment would prevent her from paying the remaining two years of the lease on the Third Avenue East building where the business operates.

“I wouldn’t be able to pay the state either,” she said, smiling in the direction of Silverman.

“For one, I’d like a fair trial,” Donna Glantz later added. “It has been judged just by the state all along.”

Silverman characterized the alleged violations as an anomaly in Montana and said the Revenue Department’s action is the only way for the state to maintain order and effectively monitor the sale of liquor.

He opposed the stay of the revocation.

“This is the only case like this, as a matter of fact, in history,” he said.

Silverman’s sole witness was Mickey Carlson, a Revenue Department liquor distribution specialist.

She testified about the state’s efforts to collect financial information from BYOB, which resulted in subpoenas being served to a bank associated with the business.

Silverman asserted that Donna Glantz was not cooperative with regulators, a claim she denies.

“We haven’t been able to determine one thing from the information provided to us by BYOB,” Silverman said.

After the hearing, Silverman said Donna Glantz would be required to pay the state the $370,000 owed before any sale could be finalized.

In an interview following the hearing, she maintained that the alleged violations are “totally bogus.” She said she was pleased with Lympus’ ruling and that it would allow her to move forward with the sale.

“I’m not going to be owing the state anything after I sell the place,” she said.

Meanwhile, her husband, Jim Glantz, said his wife’s attorneys already are working toward allowing him to be on the premises.

“Think about the constitutionality of that,” he said. “We are already working on that issue.” 

Jim Glantz is a convicted felon and therefore barred from operating a liquor store.

Glantz was charged with two counts of tampering with public records or information in 2007, but those charges later were dismissed by the Flathead County Attorney’s Office.

Glantz claimed on state applications that his true name was James William Glantz. He later said his name is Jim William Glanz, according to court documents.

He was convicted of forging a judge’s signature on a divorce decree in Clackamas County, Ore., in 1992.

He also has been convicted of felony tax fraud for more than $400,000 (for which he was imprisoned), and also was convicted of deceptive practices in Flathead County involving more than $800,000 in fraudulent real-estate transactions.

In 2004, Glantz and others applied for seven liquor licenses at a single property west of Kalispell on Managhan Lane. The applications attracted about 700 protests and the state denied the licenses.

Donna Glantz has owned BYOB Liquor since 1995.