Six barrels of wine were seized, and two men, naming Frank Livoti and Wallace Starnes, were arrested near Red Bluff late Saturday evening by that town’s policeman EL Henry.

Livoti, officers were told, runs a winery in Roseville, while Starnes, a colored man, says he was hired by Livoti to transport the wine to Kennett, a mining town in Shasta County, and to Weed.

The two men were taken to Red Bluff and held in the county jail pending further investigation. The wine was stored in the basement under the sheriff’s office.

Starnes told officers here they left Roseville last Thursday with a Maxwell truck loaded with six barrels of wine. Livoti was driving in a passenger car, taking Starnes’ wife with him. When they got to the Langenwalter ranch, about a mile south of Proberta, the truck turned brown. They were there for a day and a half, trying to fix the truck, but without success. Then Livoti called Red Bluff by phone and hired a local carter to come out for loading. The truck driver was not informed of the nature of the cargo he transferred from the broken down truck and, following the direction of Livoti and Starnes, left for the north late on Saturday evening.

Observing the suspicious loading of barrels going west on Walnut Street, Constable Henry decided to intercept the driver and hired a car for this purpose. He drove to Swayne Hill on the Hooker Detour Road, about five miles north of Red Bluff, where he waited for the wine to arrive. Shortly before midnight, Livoti, with the colored woman, was rolling in his traveller’s ear. Then the truckload of wine is in sight. Henry stopped the truck and asked the driver what he had on board. The latter’s response was evasive. Currently, Livoti has returned by car and asked what the problem was.

“Is this your business? Asked Henri de Livoti.

“No it’s not mine, but I thought I would come back and see if there was anything I could do for them,” Livoti replied.

“But the woman in the car with you is that man’s wife, isn’t she,” Henry insisted, referring to Starnes, who was in the truck.

Livoti admitted that she was. Then Henry told Livoti and Starnes that they were under arrest and they all left for Red Bluff.

Upon arriving at the county jail, Starnes told Henry that Livoti had to pay him at the rate of $ 6 per day to transport the wine. At first Livoti denied this, still insisting that he had nothing to do with wine. He eventually admitted, however, that Starnes was telling the truth. Livoti then gave Ms. Starnes $ 5 to occupy a room while her husband was being held in prison.

Five of the seized barrels each contain 50 gallons of wine, and the other barrel is the size of 35 gallons. Livoti declares that the wine was intended for the sacramental trade and not for the trade of smugglers.

– July 17, 1921