COMMON PLEAS COURT

Foxx Liquor worker guilty in 2nd charge of minor sales

Nicholas Thompson, 39, sold vodka to a friend of a teen who died in a crash and he sold beer without asking for an ID.

Already serving a six-month jail sentence for selling liquor to a minor, a Foxx Liquor worker pleaded guilty Wednesday to a new charge of selling beer to a minor.

Nicholas Thompson, 39, of 340 S. Reynolds Rd. was sentenced by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Michael Goulding to six months in jail and a $750 fine.

The judge ordered that the sentence be served at the same time as the six-month sentence imposed in April by Judge James Bates after Mr. Thompson was convicted by a jury of furnishing intoxicating liquor to a minor.

In that case, while working at Foxx, 5341 Dorr St., Mr. Thompson sold vodka Feb. 1, 2013, to a friend of Brian Hoeflinger, 18, an Ottawa Hills High School senior who died that night in a drunk-driving crash.

While the charge is a misdemeanor typically punished with a small fine, Judge Bates said at the time that he didn’t think judges were taking the offense seriously.

In the more recent case, Mr. Thompson admitted he sold beer to an underage person April 12, 2013, and didn’t ask for ID.

As part of a plea agreement, a charge of selling liquor to a minor was dismissed. Charles McDonald, an assistant Lucas County prosecutor, also told the court that Mr. Thompson had agreed to withdraw the appeal he had filed.

“Hopefully this conviction sends a clear message to those who furnish liquor or beer to children — that you will be prosecuted,” Mr. McDonald said afterward.

— Jennifer Feehan