A former Sparkman Cellars employee pleaded guilty Wednesday and will pay nearly $50,000 in restitution.
SEATTLE — A former Sparkman Cellars employee who caused $300,000 in damage by draining thousands of gallons of wine at the Woodinville winery has pleaded guilty and was sentenced Wednesday to restitution but no jail time.
Mark Griswold admitted to criminal trespass in the first degree and malicious mischief in the third degree. A judge ordered him to pay nearly $50,000 in restitution, undergo a mental health evaluation within 30 days, and stay away from the winery’s owners and staff.
Prosecutors said Griswold committed the act of vandalism just before Thanksgiving 2023, about 14 months after leaving his job at the family-owned winery. Surveillance footage showed him wearing a mask and using an employee access code to enter the barrel room. In six minutes, he opened valves on two tanks, releasing roughly 2,300 gallons of wine before slipping out the back door.
Griswold had worked at Sparkman Cellars for about a year before leaving in September 2022. According to investigators, he “felt angry about how much he was being paid and harbored resentment and anger toward the winery owner.”
“According to the Sparkmans’ victim impact statement, he had asked for a 25% raise, and they were not financially able to do that, but they said they met him halfway and did give him a raise, and they could have another conversation later that year,” said Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie Sato. “And then he quit two weeks after that, in the middle of harvest, which is a very crucial time.”
The destruction left a deep mark on the winery, Sato added.
“Their family was scared because they didn’t know why it was done to them. And from speaking with the Sparkman’s, they said that their employees were also scared,” she explained.
Griswold offered no explanation for his actions in court. When asked by the judge for his plea, he simply replied, “Guilty.”
