Thirty-four convenience and grocery store employees must appear in court after they sold alcohol to underage customers last week, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said.
Undercover deputies and agents with the state Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco visited 83 businesses across the county to test their compliance with the drinking age. The officers sent student volunteers into the stores to attempt to buy beer.
The officers watched to see whether the clerks sold beer to the volunteers. Those who did were issued notices to appear in misdemeanor court.
Selling beer to an underage customer is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days in jail.
Sheriff's Sgt. Kurt Pinto said some employees sold beer even after checking the students' identification; others didn't check IDs.
The sheriff's office conducted the same operation last year with similar results.
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