Wine Crime: Doctor Busted For Swapping Wine Price Tags

  A Cincinnati-area podiatrist has gotten the boot for switching price tags to buy expensive wine for as little as $1.59 per bottle. Dr. Dominic Rizzo, of Madeira, Ohio, went to one Kroger grocery where he got two bottles of Crystal wine and then replaced the price tags with tags from two cheaper bottles of wine. He then went to the self-serve scanner and bought the repriced wines for $3.99 and $5.99.

Apparently his thirst for great wine bargains wasn’t quenched. He admitted in court last week that he did the same thing the next day at a different Kroger, this time putting $1.59 stickers on bottles of wine that retailed for $44.99 each.

This must have been entertaining for store employees who witnessed this and captured it on store video systems. When confronted by police in August, Rizzo confessed. A municipal court judge convicted the 38-year-old doctor and sentenced him to a year of probation. Rizzo was also ordered to stay out of all Kroger stores.

Rizzo had no comment after his conviction, but word is that the wine and cheese party at his house was cancelled. The judge also fined Rizzo $200, ordered him to pay court costs and to attend a special class. Rizzo was arrested in August after an investigation and the other shoe finally dropped last week.

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