Suspect in Jackson wine theft arrested

A former customer sales rep at a Jess Jackson-owned wine distribution center was released from Sonoma County Jail early Wednesday, hours after his arrest in connection with the alleged theft of as much as $200,000 worth of wine.

Jordan P. Crass of Santa Rosa was taken into custody about 11:40 p.m. Tuesday and posted $10,000 bail before being released early Wednesday, according to jail records.

Crass, 29, was booked on suspicion of seven charges: grand theft, unauthorized computer access, destruction of property valued at more than $65,000 and four counts of burglary.

He and two other men, Jarrett M. Berg of Santa Rosa and Kevin M. Hall of Napa, are named in a criminal complaint alleging that they embezzled and sold nearly 1,000 bottles of wine valued at $150 or $175 each last year.

Berg, 28, and Hall, 29, still were being sought on arrest warrants, according to Sonoma County court records.

Investigators believe Crass set up fake shipments of wine, which he labeled lost so they wouldn't be tracked to a specific customer. He and Berg then sold them to wine retailers with online sales sites, authorities said, and Hall and Berg delivered the wine.

Crass worked at the Jackson Family Wines distribution center in Windsor, which also distributes wines produced by Jess Jackson's Kendall-Jackson label. Hall was an employee of Regal Wine Co., a Jackson-owned distribution company.

Both no longer work for Jackson Family Wines, a company spokeswoman said.

Company officials became suspicious in April, when an executives spotted some high-end 2004 Verité wines for sale online. Those wines hadn't been released to the public yet.

Crass is due to appear in court Feb. 19.

You can reach Staff Writer Lori A. Carter at 568-5312 or lori.carter@pressdemocrat.com.