Chester County Hospital wants police to pour thousands of bottles of confiscated wine into the glasses of charity bidders and donate the proceeds to the nonprofit community institution — and the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board agrees.

After being arrested for illegally selling wine from his home cellar in January 2014, Tredyffrin resident Arthur Goldman forfeited 2,447 bottles of high-end wine. A settlement recently allowed him to reclaim 1,047 bottles, and the rest are slated for destruction unless a judge approves the hospital’s petition, which is based on a state law that provides for such a transfer.

“The board disagrees with the destruction of the wine in this case,” Liquor Control Board Chief Counsel Faith Smith Diehl wrote in a letter cited by the Daily Local News. “A sale of this wine, including some rare and hard to obtain vintages, could provide a significant benefit to the citizens of the Commonwealth.”

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Sept. 3 with Common Pleas Judge Edward Griffin, the article stated.

The confiscated wine, worth more than $100,000, was improperly stored by police and may have suffered in quality, but the hospital still wants it “as is.”

“Given the value and usefulness of any forfeited bottles of wine in this matter, the destruction of this evidence is against public policy,” West Chester Attorney Dawson R. Muth said on behalf of Chester County Hospital.

Read more about the petition and potential Chester County Hospital donation in the Daily Local News here, and check out previous VISTA Today coverage of the undercover investigation and sting here.