When undercover agents investigated the matter, they found a “section dedicated to alcoholic beverage candies and confections.” Since Robert Wagner doesn’t have a liquor license, the state charged him with a gross misdemeanor. Wagner is now facing a maximum jail time of 364 days and $3,000 in fines.
But the store’s owner seems to be capitalizing on his sour state of affairs. Visitors can now take selfies by a sign with this store’s temporary new name: “Minnesota’s Most Wanted Candy Store.”
Moneywise reached out to Minnesota’s AGE for more details. Since the case remains open, they declined to comment.
Wagner disagrees with AGE’s allegations
In an interview with Fox 9, Robert Wagner appeared to be blindsided by what he believes are unjust charges.
According to Wagner, he didn’t think it was a requirement to hold a liquor permit just to sell alcohol-infused candies in his shop. As he viewed it, “My reading of the law states I can have them in the candy store. That is my reading of the law.” Wagner added that if he truly thought he was violating state law, then he “wouldn’t put it on a shelf for 650,000 customers to walk by and view.”
Beyond the claims against him, Wagner was annoyed at how the state led this sting. Rather than an undercover investigation, the store owner would have preferred to settle the dispute in the open with an old-fashioned conversation. “It just doesn’t feel like this is the relationship between the state and a taxpayer,” Wagner argued.
While they were scoping his shop for illicit goodies, Wagner said the officers “could have stopped and talked to me and said, ‘Hey Robert, we don’t think you can sell this candy.’” If Wagner agreed with their reasoning, then he says he would have complied.
As it stands today, Fox 9 reports that Wagner removed all of these controversial liquor candies from Minnesota’s Largest Candy Shop.
Are liquor candies really illegal?
The legality of liquor candies seems like it’d be a cut-and-dry case of “yes” or “no.” However, after digging into the minutiae of the Minnesota Statutes, there are some complexities surrounding these confections.
The most important section that may favor Wagner is Minnesota Statutes § 31.76. This law provides a clear definition of “confections containing alcohol,” as well as the candy shops that can legally sell them without a license.
