Salinas winemaker sentenced to 9 months in federal prison for tax evasion

A Monterey County winemaker has been sentenced to nine months in federal prison for evading thousand of dollars in wine taxes.

Brenda Jo Kibbee of Salinas was sentenced in federal court Tuesday and ordered to pay nearly $900,000 in restitution to the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau.

Kibbee owned and operated Monterey Wine Services. In 2012, she was arrested and charged with 11 counts of failing to pay excise taxes on wine she sold or consumed between August 2008 and January 2009.

Kibbee, 41, pleaded guilty in December to one count of failing to pay an excise tax on wine.

Under law, companies like Kibbee’s, which are known as bonded wine cellars, pay wine excise taxes on the removal of wine and then typically pass this cost onto their customers. Kibbee charged her customers money for the tax but then failed to pay the federal taxation agency.

Prosecutors say she evaded almost $900,000 in taxes.