A former Santa Barbara County winemaker has been sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to embezzlement, and tax fraud.
Santa Barbara County prosecutors say Christian Garvin stole money from his employer, Oreana Winery, over a seven year period. They say Garvin, who was also the winery’s manager, set up a separate account with a name similar to Oreana, and diverted some checks to it.
In addition to the prison sentence, Garvin was ordered to pay a million dollars in restitution and $1.7 million dollars in fines.