Louie's To Face 12-Day License Suspension

Louie’s Superette, the popular convenience store near Mather House, will have its liquor license suspended for 12 days, after the Cambridge Licensing Commission concluded yesterday that the owner intentionally sold alcohol to minors last month.

Along with the suspension, which has not yet taken effect, owner Cheng-San Chen will be required to participate in a training course to prevent alcohol sales to minors and will be ineligible to apply for a Sunday liquor license for a year.

Chen said repeatedly yesterday that he was “very frustrated” by the ruling.

“I expect some punishment. I know I did something wrong. But not a punishment like this,” said Chen, who was not present at the commission’s announcement yesterday afternoon.

On Feb. 4, a Cambridge Police Department (CPD) officer caught Chen selling alcohol to four underage Harvard students without checking their IDs.

Chen said last month he would close Louie’s if the commission suspended his liquor license, since alcohol sales make up 50 percent of his revenue.

But last night Chen said he was unsure of his future plans. He added, however, that he is financially secure and can retire next year.

Chen’s lawyer Lawrence W. Frisoli told The Crimson Tuesday that he expected the commission would hand down “some sort of suspension.”

At Tuesday’s hearing, Frisoli recommended a one- to three-day suspension, the typical punishment for unintentional violators. Frisoli was not present at yesterday’s ruling.

But members of the commission said yesterday they did not believe Chen’s sale to minors was an accident.

“The commissioners made it quite clear. They thought that Mr. Chen was intentionally selling to these underage kids,” said Executive Officer Richard V. Scali, who serves as the commission’s attorney, after yesterday’s meeting.

During the deliberations, members of the commission pointed to the fact that Chen received a warning for selling alcohol to minors the night before the Feb. 4 incident, which they said was evidence that he knowingly disregarded the law.

“The fact that police spoke to him the day before...didn’t shake him,” said commission Chair Benjamin C. Barnes.

Chen said that he did check IDs after the warning, but he was distracted with paperwork when the four students came to purchase alcohol the following day and forgot to card them.

He emphasized that he didn’t disregard the warning and sell alcohol to minors intentionally.

Scali told the commission that Louie’s is a “well-known establishment” for underage students seeking alcohol.

According to the police report, one of the students who bought alcohol from Chen told an officer, “That is why we come here. They don’t check IDs.”

Last night, several students called Louie’s a fixture of their college experience and said they were relieved that the suspension wasn’t longer.

“The punishment’s pretty lenient,” said Dunster House resident Timothy S. Galebach ’06. “All my freshman friends I know, know that you go to Louie’s to get alcohol.”

Dunster House resident tutor Jolie M. Martin also said she was surprised the commission wasn’t tougher on Louie’s. But she added that Chen has always been rigorous about checking her age.

“I’m 24 and every time I buy alcohol there he’s carded me,” she said.

Louie’s alcohol license suspension will take effect sometime after the commission sends Chen a letter notifying him of the decision.

Chen has the option to appeal the ruling to the state Alcoholic Beverages Control Commission. But he said last night he did not plan to do so because his lawyer had told him most appeals are unsuccessful.

The commission also ruled that within the next six months Chen will have to undergo a training program on preventing alcohol sales to minors.

The commission’s decision to withhold a Sunday alcohol license from Louie’s will not have an immediate impact on the store since Chen does not currently hold, or plan to apply for, this special license.

In addition to the action by the commission, Chen faced criminal charges after the Feb. 4 incident.

After his criminal case was brought before Cambridge District Court on Feb. 25, a magistrate decided in a closed hearing that Chen would not face jail time.

This is Chen’s second violation. He received a one-day suspension from the license commission in December 1992 for selling alcohol to underage customers.

—Staff writer Jessica R. Rubin-Wills can be reached at rubinwil@fas.harvard.edu.