Back in the Saddle? An Update on Darby O’Gill's
Darby O’Gill’s has made a “conditional no contest” offer to pay a fine of $20,000 to settle charges against them following the suspension of their liquor license.
According to Bill Crowley of the New York State Liquor Authority, the no contest offer appeared before the Full Board of the State Liquor for consideration on Feb. 6 at their bi-weekly Full Board meeting. While a decision on the offer has not yet been confirmed, the Board discussed a counter-offer to the settlement, which would entail placing enforcement-division-approved scanners in Darby’s as well as two other local bars under the same ownership.
The raid at the popular local bar follows New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s announcement to increase efforts in dissuading underage drinking in the state.
This initiative will focus on concert venues, bars, restaurants and alcohol retailers throughout New York State.
"It goes without saying that New York State has absolutely zero tolerance for underage drinking, and last year's record number of fake ID seizures demonstrates once again that we are deadly serious about tackling this issue," Cuomo said in a statement. "Underage drinking often leads to avoidable tragedies, and we will continue these successful enforcement measures to crack down on illegal behavior and ensure the safety of all New Yorkers."
In 2018, 922 New York residents were ticketed for using false identification or using another person's ID while 892 forms of fake identifications were seized.
An underage male Marist student who was present at Darby’s on the night of the raid stated that he received a letter from the state of New York saying he can either mail in a guilty plea or plead not guilty and appear in court for a hearing. Choosing to plead guilty, he then received a fine of $200 and ordered not to drive in the state for 90 days. He wishes to keep his identity as anonymous.
He explained that other students he spoke with that were also involved in the incident endured the same consequences.
New York State residents who were ticketed during the Darby’s raid were required to turn in their licenses to the Department of Motor Vehicles for the duration of their suspension. This was not the case for some ticketed patrons who lived out of state, however, as the 90-day license suspension only applied to the state of New York, while some out-of-staters can continue driving elsewhere (pending which state they live in).
“Honestly, this whole ordeal kind of flew over my head,” the student said. “Everyone hyped it up that we were going to jail and the fine and punishment was going to be a lot, but it honestly wasn’t too bad. “You see the kids who didn’t get caught still going out and even the ones who did may have the urge to not care and continue to go out to the bars.”
Marist has not taken any disciplinary action against students that were caught in the incident, according to Justin DiBiase ‘19, vice president of Safety and Security at Marist’s student government association (SGA).
“I don’t believe [students] should [face disciplinary action] since it was an off-campus activity that they took part in,” DiBiase said. “The difference being as if they were caught by security on campus with alcohol versus them being off campus doing something not related to Marist or not related to the status at Marist.”
DiBiase also issued a warning to underage students to “definitely watch out.”
“It’s probably going to happen again,” he said. “I can’t say specifics, I don’t know specifics. I just know that the likelihood of it happening again is definitely high.”
“I highly urge students to follow the law,” DiBiase said. “You’re here for four years…it flies by very quickly. Enjoy your time here, you don’t want to get tied up with possible felony charges all because of a night out with your friends.”