STATE OF FLORIDA

DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS

WILBUR GLOSTER, )

)

Petitioner, )

)

vs. ) CASE NO. 80-637

) STATE OF FLORIDA, DIVISION OF ) ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES AND )

TOBACCO, )

)

Respondent. )

)

RECOMMENDED ORDER

Pursuant to notice, a hearing was held before Charles C. Adams, a Hearing Officer with the Division of Administrative Hearings, on April 22, 1980. This hearing was conducted at 2665 Cleveland Avenue South, Fort Myers, Florida.

APPEARANCES

For Petitioner: Wilbur Gloster

3303 Armstrong Court

Fort Myers, Florida 33901

For Respondent: James Watson, Esquire

Office of the General Counsel Department of Business Regulation Johns Building

725 South Bronough Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301

ISSUE

The Issue presented by this case concerns the entitlement of Wilbur Gloster to receive a new Series 2-APS beverage license.

FINDINGS OF FACT

1. Wilbur Gloster, who resides at 3303 Armstrong Court, Fort Myers, Florida, applied to the Respondent, State of Florida , Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, to be issued a new Series 2-APS beverage license. After review of that license request, the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco issued a letter disapproving the license application. This letter of disapproval was dated May 24, 1979, and stated as a grounds for denial the belief by the Director that the applicant was not of the requisite good moral character required by Section 561.15, Florida Statutes.

   
   

2. Wilbur Gloster, the present Petitioner, took issue with the Director's denial and requested a Subsection 120.57(1), Florida Statutes, hearing. The Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco requested that the Division of

   Administrative Hearings conduct the proceeding and on April 22, 1980, the formal hearing was held to consider the question of the Petitioner's entitlement to be granted the subject beverage license.

   
   

3. The facts of the case reveal that Wilbur Gloster, also known as Wilburt Gloster, was sentenced to serve confinement at hard labor in the State Prison System of Florida for a period of two (2) years for the offense of uttering a forged instrument (Section 831.02, Florida Statutes). This followed an Order of Revocation of Probation which the Petitioner had received for the above-stated offense. In addition, the Petitioner was sentenced in two (2) cases to five- year (5) terms to run concurrently with the offense of uttering a forged instrument, and these latter sentences were for the sale of marijuana (Section 404.02, Florida Statutes). These sentences were received in April and May, 1973, and the Petitioner was additionally fined in the amount of $500.00 for possession of marijuana. The terms and conditions of these sentences and fine may be found in the Respondent's Composite Exhibit 1 admitted into evidence.

   
   

4. Gloster served three (3) years of his sentence and has been out of prison for five (5) years, within which time he worked for "Haverty's" for a period of three (3) years, which employment terminated in October, 1979.

   
   

5. At present Gloster works with his father in the landscaping business in Naples, Florida, and lives with his mother at the aforementioned residence. He is the owner of a triplex apartment complex in which one of the units is occupied by a tenant. He is a member of a local Jaycee chapter in Fort Myers, Florida, and a member of a volleyball team in Fort Myers. The applicant also plays on a semiprofessional football team in Fort Myers, Florida.

   
   

6. The Petitioner has invested in certain real estate which is a ten-acre tract approximately fifteen (15) miles east of East Fort Myers, Florida, in Lee County, Florida, located on Highway No. 82. This is the site of the business, Station #7, intended by the Petitioner to be a convenience store. It is the establishment for which the Petitioner has requested a new Series 2-APS beverages license.

   
   

   CONCLUSIONS OF LAW

   
   

7. The Division of Administrative Hearings has jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties to this action.

   
   

8. Based upon a full consideration of the facts related herein, it is concluded as a matter of law that the Petitioner is not entitled to the grant of a new Series 2-APS beverage license. This determination is made because the Petitioner is not found to have the requisite good moral character necessary for a beverage license holder. See Zemour, Inc. v. State Division of Beverage, 374 So.2d 1102 (1st DCA 1977).

RECOMMENDATION

It is RECOMMENDED that the application made by the Petitioner, Wilbur Gloster, to have a new Series 2-APS beverage license issued in his behalf, be DENIED.

DONE AND ENTERED this 13th day of May, 1980, in Tallahassee, Florida.

CHARLES C. ADAMS

Hearing Officer

Division of Administrative Hearings

101 Collins Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301 (904) 488-9675

Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 13th day of May, 1980.

COPIES FURNISHED:

Wilbur Gloster

3303 Armstrong Court

Fort Myers, Florida 33901

James Watson, Esquire Office of General Counsel

Department of Business Regulation Johns Building

725 South Bronough Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301

T. L. Stout

Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco

Post Office Drawer 2306 Fort Myers, Florida 33902

Docket for Case No: 80-000637

Orders for Case No: 80-000637