A criminal investigation is underway after reports surfaced that top officials with Oregon’s marijuana and alcohol regulating authority misused their position to purchase rare bottles of bourbon.

An internal Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission (OLCC) investigation found the agency’s director, Steve Marks, and five other officials had diverted sought-after bourbons -- including Pappy Van Winkle’s 23-year-old whiskey -- for their personal use.

Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum announced Friday that the state’s Department of Justice is opening a criminal investigation into ethics violations by the OLCC officials, “and possibly others.”

READ MORE | Top officials at OLCC may be bounced for booze obtainment

Internal reports and interview recordings obtained by KATU reveal six officials were found to have abused their authority: Marks, OLCC Deputy Director Will Higlin, OLCC Budget Manager Bill Schuette, Distilled Spirits Program Director Chris Mayton, Chief Information Officer Bob Subasic, and Kai Nakashima, director of the office of information services.

Schuette told the OLCC internal investigator he had made what was considered a “special order” to the manager of the state’s liquor warehouse, who facilitated moving the desired bottle to a store for him to pick up.

“This was, has been a common practice within the agency, even before I started,” Schuette said in the 2022 interview.

Mayton told the investigator that he had facilitated similar pick-up orders for individuals, including “legislators.”

“I have done that more than 100 times,” Mayton said in the 2022 interview.

A spokesperson for OLCC said the agency does not have a comment at this time.

Earlier this week, Gov. Tina Kotek asked for Marks’ resignation, calling the abuse of position “wholly unacceptable.” She added that she would “not tolerate wrongful violations of our government ethics laws.”

Kotek initially asked Rosenblum to conduct a civil investigation into any potential wrongdoing and to recommend ways to ensure ethics laws are followed by the OLCC.

Rosenblum said the civil investigation would be delayed until the justice department completes its criminal investigation.

In the OLCC’s “Chance To Purchase” drawing system, tens of thousands of entries are submitted for a few hundred bottles of rare liquor.

In 2022, there were 20,748 entries to purchase Pappy Van Winkle Family Reserve 23 year, and only five bottles available for the public to purchase (The odds of even getting to buy a bottle being 1 in 4,150).