ABC again postpones Velvet hearing

For a second time, Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control officials postponed a scheduled hearing over alleged violations of state ABC laws at Velvet, a strip club in Richmond's Shockoe Bottom.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control said the hearing, scheduled yesterday and today in Richmond, was postponed to allow the city attorney's office time to deliver documents requested by the lawyer for Velvet. The club on South 15th Street has been charged with 11 violations of state ABC laws.

The club is owned by Samuel J.T. Moore III, whose apartment above the club was raided by state, federal and local law-enforcement agencies last year in an investigation that resulted in his conviction on three misdemeanor charges related to having sex with a minor and another woman, and filming it illegally.

The investigators were looking for evidence of prostitution, public nudity, and sale of illegal drugs, but no other state or federal charges have resulted from the raid.

The search included agents for the ABC Department, who began an undercover investigation of the club in late 2007.

The ABC department charged Velvet in March with 11 violations of state law, including sale of alcoholic beverages to a minor and creating a haven for illegal activities. The hearing originally was scheduled on April 2 but was postponed to allow Moore to prepare his defense. If found guilty of the charges, the club could lose its state license to sell alcohol.

ABC spokeswoman Jennifer Farinholt said the agency would reschedule the hearing after Moore's attorney, James Neal Insley of Virginia Beach, receives the documents he is seeking under subpoena from the city.

Contact Michael Martz at (804) 649-6964 or .