Underage alcohol sale sting nets four Harrisburg establishments

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Four Harrisburg alcohol retailers. along with numerous others in Southern Illinois, were cited Thursday by the state Liquor Control Commission on charges of selling alcohol to minors.

An undercover operation conducted by the ILCC and the State Police netted Harrisburg BP, 630 N. Commercial St.; Sprits, 212 E. Sloan St.; Poor Boys Lounge, 300 E. Raymond St., and Town Square Pub, 23 E. Poplar St.

In all, 22 establishments were checked in Saline County, according to a news release from the state Department of Revenue.

Other Southern Illinois establishments cited Thursday include the West City One Stop, West City CVS Pharmacy, West City Applebee's, Johnston City Hucks, Johnston City BP, Johnston City Russell Oil Company, Christopher Casey's, Lake of Egypt Supermarket in Marion, Heartland Liquors in Marion, Casey's in Grayville and Chappy's in Grayville.

The penalties for selling alcohol to minors can include fines, liquor license suspension or revocation.

"Underage drinking is a serious problems and our licensees know the rules," Lainie Krozel, executive director of the ILCC, said in the news release. "They should be checking the identifications of these kids."

The undercover operations are part of ongoing statewide compliance checks to assure compliance with the law, according to the news release.