A San Diego man who used cleaning solution to refill beer bottles and then returned the tampered brews to stores for a refund was sentenced to 30 days behind bars on Friday.
Eduardo Cossio III pleaded guilty in the beer tampering case in late August.
The investigation into tampering of beer in San Diego began in May 2014. That’s when two beer brewing companies, as well as Target and Walmart, reported getting consumer returns for tampered or altered beer.
In all, there were 13 reported incidents of 12-packs. In each case, someone was emptying the contents of the bottles without damaging the bottle cap. Inside the bottles was some kind of soapy solution that had been dyed to make it look like beer.
“The bottle was then recapped and either re-crimped or glued with a silicone type adhesive to maintain a seal,” according to court documents.
Investigators with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office started looking into who was returning the 12-packs of beer.
On Oct. 7, 2015, a 12-pack was returned to the Target on Jamacha Road in El Cajon. When investigators looked into the person who returned the beer, they found the same customer returned beer five times between September and October 2015.
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Surveillance video showed Cossio returning the alcohol.
According to court documents, investigators served a search warrant at Cossio’s home on Oct. 28, 2015, and found evidence of the beer tampering. Among the items were cleaning solution, glue sticks and glue guns.
Court documents state Cossio told investigators he replaced the beer “using whatever cleaning solution was cheapest and sometimes experimenting with dyes."
He pleaded guilty to three felony charges of poisoning or adulterating food, drink or medicine with a special allegation of intending to defraud a company.
He was placed on probation ahead of his sentencing hearing. Cossio was also ordered to pay more than $59,000 in restitution to one of the beer brewers and more than $1,300 to Target.
Cossio's attorney says his client did not mean for his actions to harm anyone.
"It's really silly but he was trying to get free beer. And that's what it comes down to," Attorney Dan Greene said. "He wasn't trying to hurt anyone. He really didn't think that any beers would be reshelved."
A restitution review hearing was set for October 28.
In the initial charging document, Cossio was accused of 32 counts of returning beer between December 2014 and October 2015, at numerous stores, including several Target stores throughout San Diego County and three separate Walmart stores in Chula Vista, Logan Heights and San Ysidro.
