Kentucky Distillery Owner Pleads Guilty For Bribes Paid In College Admission Scandal

Like 32 people before her, a Kentucky distillery owner has entered a guilty plea in the ongoing College Admissions Scandal, rocking the whiskey world.

Charged with paying a half-million US dollars to bribe her son into the University of Southern California, by way of paying a college counselor, Marci Palatella was indicted in 2020 when the scandal was exposed.

Palatella and her husband are the owners of the Bardstown, Kentucky based Preservation Distillery. Once known for bottling rare stocks of bourbon and rye, typically for the export market, the distillery is now continuing to produce and source whiskey for their Very Olde Saint Nick and Rare Perfection bottlings. The lens on the distillery has changed in recent months, as her involvement in the college admissions scandal has come to light, and the whiskey community awaited the fall proceedings.

Indicted alongside well known names like Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, Marci Palatella will now await sentencing. Her trial, as we originally reported in our initial coverage of the story, was set to take place in September.

Palatella is expected to spend up to 6 weeks in jail, and pay back $250,000 in fines. Beyond those terms, she’s likely going to serve 2 years of probation, coupled with community service.

The general public was unsure of how Palatella would plead. It is expected the Preservation Distillery will continue to operate normally while she serves her time in the justice system. We’ll have more on the story as it continues to develop.

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