A grand jury this week indicted two Newport liquor-store workers on charges of buying thousands of dollars worth of stolen wine and spirits, at half price, from a delivery driver who admitted in court to “skimming” the alcohol from his employer, a major Rhode Island liquor distributor.

Ratana Hoan, 36, of 21 Phelps Rd., in Middletown, was indicted on three counts of receiving stolen goods. Hoan, who works at Rex Liquors, in Newport, allegedly bought $2,792 worth of liquor on three occasions in November 2006 from Centrex Distributors Inc. driver Arthur J. Begin, according to Michael J. Healey, a spokesman for the state attorney general’s office.

Hoan allegedly paid half-price for the liquor, which included Captain Morgan spice rum, Bombay gin and Wild Horse pinot noir.

Nicholas G. Karanikolas, 46, of 78 Atlantic Ave., Middletown, who works at Harry’s Package Store in Newport, was indicted on two counts of receiving stolen goods for allegedly buying $1,802 worth of stolen liquor, including cases of Smirnoff vodka and Jack Daniels whiskey, in October and November 2006. Karanikolas also allegedly paid Begin half-price for the cases of alcohol.

Hoan and Karanikolas are scheduled to be arraigned July 24 in Newport Superior Court.

In both cases, Begin, 58, of Coventry, took liquor cases he was scheduled to deliver to other package stores and instead sold it to Rex’s and Harry’s at cut rate, keeping the proceeds for himself, Healey said. Begin credited the accounts of the stores that had ordered the alcohol, telling them that the bottles had broken in transit.

Officials at West Greenwich-based Centrex became suspicious when they noticed discrepancies in delivery paperwork filed by Begin and three other truck drivers, Healey said, and the company hired a private investigator to conduct surveillance of the drivers at the loading dock and on their delivery routes. Steven Springer, an investigator for the attorney general’s office, then reviewed the case.

Begin pleaded no contest Thursday in Kent County Superior Court to a charge of embezzlement and received a five-year deferred sentence. He was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution.

The three other Centrex drivers involved in the scheme — Antonio A. Custodio, 45, of East Providence, Assane Ndiaye, 38, of Providence, and James A. Vicca Jr., 36, of Johnston — also pleaded no contest to embezzlement charges and each have been placed on probation for five years and ordered to pay restitution, Healey said. Custodio and Vicca were ordered to pay $9,500 and Ndiaye was ordered to pay $15,000.

“Centrex was getting hammered,” Healey said. “They deserve a lot of credit, their management, for being on to this. Clearly no reputable retailer in the industry would do what these guys [Hoan and Karanikolas] allegedly did, buying product at cut rate.”

mwims@projo.com