Frankfort Police Officer Quits Over Bourbon Heist

By Richard Thomas

Officer Michael Wells of the Frankfort Police Department resigned last week after he was named in a search warrant connected to the infamous Pappy Van Winkle bourbon heist case.

Frankfort Police Chief Jeff Abrams released a statement Wednesday, April 29 explaining that his department was conducting an internal investigation into allegation stemming from the bourbon theft and steroid dealing ring that was indicted two weeks ago.

Many thought the indictments of Gilbert Curtsinger, his wife, and seven others in a group alleged to have stolen bourbon from Wild Turkey and Buffalo Trace, where three of the nine worked, and trafficked in illegal steroids was the end of the case. However, sources have informed The Whiskey Reviewer that there were many unindicted co-conspirators in the case, and pursuit and recovery of the stolen bourbon remains an ongoing concern. The bourbon and steroid ring is supposed to have operated from 2008 to 2015.

Officer Wells has been tied to the case through the steroid angle, with the warrant alleging that Wells placed steroid orders for Curtsinger. Kentucky’s Frankfort Police Department is separate from the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, which was one of the lead agencies that investigated the case.