By Bill Lindelof
blindelof@sacbee.com
The man who broke into and served alcohol at a Penryn bar he didn't own after it went out of business has been sentenced.
Travis Lloyd Kevie (left), 29, was sentenced last week in Placer Superior Court after pleading no contest to selling liquor without a license, a misdemeanor.
He was sentenced last Aug. 18 to 15 days in jail, fined $160 and ordered to stay away from the Valencia Club unless lawfully employed there.
The judge ordered him to report to jail Oct. 19.
The Valencia Club, in Penryn, closed in June for financial reasons. Kevie, from Newcastle, surreptitiously reopened in July and proceeded to serve alcohol to unsuspecting customers -- about 30 of them a day.
Kevie subsequently was in an Auburn Journal newspaper article as the watering hole's new owner and was quoted as saying his takeover of the establishment was a "dream come true."
But Placer County sheriff's Detective Jim Hudson recognized Kevie from the article as a transient well known to authorities. He subsequently was arrested on suspicion of burglary and selling alcohol without a license.
A large amount of alcohol and cash were confiscated from the bar on Taylor Road, deputies said.
Kevie knew of the bar and its plight because he was hired as part of a clean-up crew after it was closed.
Deputies said Kevie admitted to breaking into the building and placing an "Open" sign in the window. Soon, he was pouring for thirsty customers, deputies said.
Playing the savvy business owner, Kevie reinvested profits from drink sales back into the business: He started with a six-pack of beer purchased from a convenience store across the street and used the proceeds from customers to buy more alcohol, deputies said.
"He built up to 10 to 12 bottles of hard liquor and a couple of cases of beer," Hudson said at the time of Kevie's arrest.
Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.
Previous coverage:
Man lives dream of running bar in Sierra foothill town, but gets arrested - July 22, 2010
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