FBI launches investigation into Napa Valley's most famous wineries and subpoenas documents relating to 40 high-profile individuals including former Dallas Cowboys owner and onetime US ambassador to Austria
UPDATED: 16:29 EST, 19 February 2024
The FBI has launched an investigation into Napa Valley's most famous wineries and subpoenaed documents related to 40 high-profile individuals.
Billionaire and former part owner of the Dallas Cowboys, Craig Hall and his wife Kathryn Walt Hall, the onetime US ambassador to Austria, were among those named in the legal documents, along with their winery, Hall Hundred Acre.
Other people who were named in the documents were Dave Phinney, the entrepreneur who created the wine brand Prisoner, and Chuck Wagner, the owner of Caymus Vineyards.
The reason for the investigation is still unknown, but many of the vintners and wineries named in the subpoena have direct links to Napa County Supervisor Alfredo Pedroza, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Pedroza has long been entangled in land controversies and though he has not been listed or charged, the subpoenas included the names of people and companies that completed the Atlas Peak land deal, including the supervisor's father-in-law, the Napa Valley Register reported.
DailyMail.com contacted the FBI for more information on the federal investigation but did not receive a response.
In response to the investigation, Wagner told the San Francisco Chronicle he was 'mad as hell' that his name was listed.
'I'm baffled. It's (about) the county, they shouldn't be naming individuals- unless I've done something wrong that I don't know about,' Wagner added.
The subpoena ordered a representative of the county to appear before a federal grand jury in San Francisco on Wednesday with 'any and all documents' related to those who were named.
Napa County's deputy county executive communications officer, Holly Dawson, said that the county doesn't 'know anything more than what's in the subpoena.'
Dawson added the county will provide the requested documents and that no one is expected to testify.
Kathryn Hall said that she knew there was an 'ongoing investigation' but that she was unaware of the 'scope or details' and that it would 'inappropriate for us to speculate.'
Kathryn and Craig own five certified organic wineries in Helena and Rutherford, Napa Valley. They have not been accused of any wrongdoings.
Craig purchased an ownership interest in the Dallas Cowboys in 1984 and has gone on to create the Hall Group, a family of assorted companies from wineries, to financial buildings and art.
Kathryn served as the former US Ambassador to Austria from 1997 to 2001 under then-President Bill Clinton, and has gone on to work as an attorney.
According to the winery's website, the couple are 'lifelong art collectors' that enjoy sharing their love of art and wine to the world.
Pedroza was caught up in a messy land battle that involved the Walt Ranch, a piece of land that was set to become a vineyard, but the plan failed last year.
The Hall's purchased the Walt Ranch in 2005 for $8million with similar plans to build a vineyard on it.
In 2022, a resident, Beth Nelson, found out that Pedroza's father-in-law had acquired a stake in property near Walt Ranch. Pedroza voted in favor of the ranch, but did not disclose his father's stake.
Others have claimed that Pedroza and his family could have financially benefited from the vineyard and worried that it's placement would hike up the prices of nearby properties.
His father-in-law, Esteban Llamas, is listed on the subpoena, along with Vinedos AP, LLC, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Pedroza, who is not named in the subpoenas, told the Napa Valley Register: 'I encourage the county, as it always does, to cooperate fully with all other branches of federal and state government.'
'There is no reason here to do otherwise,' he added.
Grant Long, the owner of Revierie and Aonair in Helena, California, was also listed in the subpoena and said that the news 'came as quite a big surprise' to him.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that Wagner, Phinney and Hall are all top donors of Pedroza's, who have donated large amounts of money to the supervisor's campaigns. It is unclear if this is related to the investigation.
The documents requested in the subpoena included permits, plans, contracts and correspondence that date to January 1, 2016- the year Pedroza was first elected to Napa County's Board of Supervisors.
Other business owners such James Peter Read, who previously owned the Grocery Outlet, and three of his other businesses were listed in the subpoenas.
Records revealed that Read's Circle R. Ranch, LLC has donated at least $9,900 to Pedroza's campaigns as well.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13101639/FBI-wineries-napa-valley-investigation-california.html