By By JONATHAN CLAYBORNE
Staff Writer
A former executive director of the Turnage Theaters Foundation has been charged with interfering in a state agency’s inspection of alcohol-license privileges.
John Vogt, executive director of the Duplin County Events Center and former Turnage head, told the Daily News his supervisors have instructed him not to comment on the charges.
He said his court date is set for Feb. 17.
Vogt was charged by state Alcohol Law Enforcement officials on Jan. 28.
ALE also charged associates of country-music star Willie Nelson with misdemeanor drug and alcohol offenses at the Kenansville facility where Nelson and his band were scheduled to perform.
Six members of Nelson’s sphere were charged with possession of marijuana and moonshine, according to media reports.
The concert was canceled, the events center’s Web site reads.
Thirteen ALE agents were on the scene, working with officers from the Kenansville Police Department and the Duplin County Sheriff’s Office, said Ernie Seneca, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Crime Control and Public Safety.
“ALE agents are involved in monitoring various events across the state: concerts, sporting events, etcetera,” Seneca said.
The agents didn’t converge on the venue in response to a tip, but were there to do routine monitoring, he said.
In all, 14 people — some of them concert-goers — were cited during the incident, leading to a total of 25 criminal charges, according to Seneca.
The alleged violations related to Vogt will be submitted to the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission for review. The commission will decide what, if any, action to take regarding the events center’s liquor license, Seneca related.
The case against Vogt is pending trial, Ted Carlton, special agent in charge in ALE’s District III office, said Thursday.
The charge against Vogt was for interfering with the inspection of a privilege license related to the venue, Carlton said.
Part of ALE’s job is to regulate license privileges and make sure venues serving alcohol are abiding by all rules and regulations, the agent related.
Carlton declined to provide further details.
The Turnage Theaters Foundation’s board fired Vogt on Aug. 14, 2007, amid a dispute over the director’s performance, contemporary news reports read.
At the time, Vogt told the Daily News he was fired for objecting to “unauthorized spending” on construction change orders, an allegation the board denied.
Vogt eventually landed at the Duplin County center.
On Thursday, he said the Kenansville facility’s leaders had been able to reduce a $600,000 deficit to $300,000 in a year “just out of pure, hard work and generating shows.”
“We’re on our way to doing a similar thing this year,” Vogt said.
He explained that scaling back the deficit entailed a reduction in a county subsidy to the facility.
The events center is owned by the county, said County Manager Mike Aldridge. Vogt is not an employee of the county but works for VenuWorks, which manages the center, Aldridge related.