The owner of a local business who was arrested last week for failing to register as a sex offender has been released from custody and placed on work furlough for 45 days.
Gaetano D. Addamo, 46, appeared in court Tuesday and admitted to violating terms of parole on a sexual battery conviction from Napa County. The co-owner of Aroma Cellars in downtown Hollister was released after the hearing Tuesday presided over by visiting Judge Gilbert Brown.
As part of the arrangement, Addamo was ordered to serve the 45 days of work furlough, with a sheriff’s work alternative program allowed. That came after Addamo served nearly a week in the San Benito County Jail following his arrest by the sheriff’s office last Wednesday.
The judge ordered Addamo to report to the probation department within 48 hours and register as a sex offender.
Addamo’s sex offender status originated from a sexual battery case in Napa County but he had his probation department supervision transferred to San Benito County, where he lives on Tierra Del Sol in Hollister.
Records indicate Addamo committed sexual battery in May 2017. The Napa County district attorney initially charged him with separate felony and misdemeanor charges alleging sexual battery by restraint, while a felony conviction could have resulted in a prison sentence of two to four years.
But Addamo accepted a plea deal for the misdemeanor sexual battery charge, and was sentenced in June to probation for three years and a requirement he register as a sex offender. He served one day in jail in Napa County along with seven days locally, so he was credited in court Tuesday with twice that total – or 16 days – of time served, according to records.
After his 2018 conviction, he was also ordered to serve 240 days of community service and is prohibited from possessing a firearm for 10 years. He was placed on probation for three years.
The court document indicates law enforcement accused Addamo of touching an intimate part of a victim while she had been unlawfully restrained. The records show an accomplice was involved, but do not identify that person.
Aroma Cellars was opened in 2017. A fictitious business statement filed with the county clerk lists David and Nicole Addamo as owners.
Addamo is a winemaker and viticulturist. His LinkedIn page shows he is from Hollister but also recently owned a winery in Santa Maria where he has been a winemaker.
His attorney Harry Damkar could not be reached immediately Wednesday.
