Dominic Foppoli: Allegations, Civil Trial, and Where He Is Now

Dominic Foppoli is the former mayor of Windsor, California, who resigned in May 2021 after more than a dozen women accused him of sexual assault and misconduct going back nearly two decades. No criminal charges were ever filed against him. He now faces a civil trial brought by seven of his accusers in Sonoma County Superior Court, and in 2025 he said he is seriously considering another run for mayor.¹

Foppoli grew up in Windsor, a small town in Sonoma County wine country. His family owns Christopher Creek Winery outside Healdsburg, operated through a parent company called Two Kings Wine Co., and a 1,000-year-old castle, Castello Foppoli, in northern Italy. He won a seat on the Windsor Town Council in 2014, was appointed mayor by his colleagues in 2018, and won the town’s first direct mayoral election in 2020 with 6,307 votes.²

The Allegations

At least 14 women have accused Foppoli of sexual misconduct in incidents dating back to 2002. The accusations include rape, sexual battery, drugging, nonconsensual sexual acts, groping, and indecent exposure. Many of the alleged incidents occurred at or near Christopher Creek Winery or at events tied to Active 20-30, a civic service club where Foppoli was a prominent member.³

Several accusers described a similar pattern: meeting Foppoli in a professional or social setting, then blacking out or falling into a disoriented state before being assaulted. Accounts span 2002 through 2019, with additional women reporting incidents in 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016.³

Two accusers drew particular attention. Esther Lemus, a fellow Windsor Town Council member and a Sonoma County deputy district attorney at the time, said in April 2021 that Foppoli had drugged and raped her in February 2020 after a community crab feed, with a second incident later that year at Christopher Creek Winery.⁴ Reality television personality Farrah Abraham filed a police report in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 2, 2021, alleging that Foppoli sexually battered her during a March 2021 encounter.³

Foppoli has denied every allegation. He called them “outrageous fabulist tales” and wrote in his resignation letter, “I did not engage in any non-consensual sexual acts with any woman.”⁵

Resignation

The San Francisco Chronicle published its first report on April 8, 2021, detailing accounts from four women. More women came forward in the weeks that followed. By late May, Foppoli was under pressure to resign from his Town Council colleagues, every other Sonoma County mayor, the Board of Supervisors, state lawmakers, and regional members of Congress. A recall campaign had already begun collecting signatures.⁵

He resigned on May 21, 2021, in a three-paragraph statement released by his attorney. The immediate trigger was the emergence of a ninth accuser, Abraham, and the Chronicle‘s preparation to report her allegations. Foppoli said he was stepping down to spare Windsor from “undue national attention” and characterized his past behavior as “lawful, but poor choices.”⁶

Why No Criminal Charges Were Filed

The Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office opened a criminal investigation the same day the Chronicle‘s first story ran. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office recused itself because Lemus, one of the accusers, worked there as a deputy district attorney. The case was referred to the California Attorney General.⁷

Investigators executed a search warrant at Foppoli’s Windsor home in November 2021, a seven-month gap that Traci Carrillo, attorney for seven of the accusers, called “inexcusable.”⁸ The Sheriff’s Office submitted its final report to the Attorney General in March 2022.

Investigations were opened in four states. None produced charges. A Florida investigation into Abraham’s allegation was suspended in March 2022 after leads were exhausted.⁹ In March 2024, the California Attorney General’s Office formally declined to file criminal charges, citing insufficient evidence. The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office separately said it did not have enough evidence to charge the incidents that were not already barred by the statute of limitations.¹⁰

The Civil Cases

Seven Accusers, One Trial

On April 4, 2022, seven women filed a joint civil lawsuit as Jane Does in Sonoma County Superior Court, naming Foppoli, Christopher Creek Winery, and Active 20-30 as defendants. The suit alleges that the winery and the club enabled Foppoli by hosting events where the abuse occurred and by failing to act on complaints they had received. A trial brief filed in June 2026 puts the alleged incidents between 2001 and 2020. One plaintiff alleged she was raped “upwards of over a hundred times.”¹¹

Christopher Creek Winery and the national Active 20-30 organization settled with all seven plaintiffs. The Santa Rosa Active 20-30 chapter is still a defendant, though only as to one plaintiff. In April 2026 the court granted summary adjudication for the chapter on six of the seven plaintiffs’ claims, ruling they had not shown a sufficient link between the chapter and the alleged assaults. The court left the claim of Jane Doe #4 standing, finding open questions about whether the chapter acted as Foppoli’s agent and whether it ratified his conduct by failing to investigate reported abuse.¹² Trial is set to begin the first full week of July 2026, with testimony expected to run about six weeks.

The Farrah Abraham Suit

Abraham filed a separate lawsuit over the alleged March 2021 assault in Palm Beach. In October 2023, she sought more than $20 million in damages, saying both Foppoli and Christopher Creek Winery had failed to respond and that the winery had entered default in May 2023 after missing its response deadline. Foppoli, who had not retained counsel for the civil cases, disputed that he was properly served, saying he was not present when process servers left documents at his mother’s residence.¹³ In October 2024 the court overruled a demurrer on the sexual assault cause of action while sustaining it on other claims with leave to amend.¹⁴ Trial is expected in February 2027.¹¹

Other Suits

A woman from Gallatin, Montana, sued Foppoli in May 2022, alleging he raped her multiple times in 2020 when she was 18. That case settled in December 2025.¹¹ In July 2024, Foppoli’s brother Joseph sued him, alleging Dominic used the winery’s accounts as a “personal bank” to fund a lavish lifestyle in Italy and that Joseph was fired as chief operating officer in retaliation for raising concerns about financial improprieties. The winery’s ownership denied the accusations and attributed the termination to performance issues.¹⁵

Active 20-30 and the Winery

The Chronicle‘s reporting on Active 20-30 was central to the case built against the institutions around Foppoli. Female members had developed an informal “whisper network” to warn one another, and a 2017 entry in an unofficial chapter newsletter ranked Foppoli as the number-one hookup mistake to avoid. The Santa Rosa chapter’s official 2019 newsletter reportedly joked about Foppoli “drugging” women and referred to his property as a “rape castle.”¹⁶

An internal investigation by the national organization concluded in June 2021. Foppoli was expelled from the Santa Rosa chapter, and several other members were expelled, suspended, or placed on probation. The organization introduced sexual assault training, revised its complaint process, and adopted mandatory harassment reporting. It did not sanction the Santa Rosa chapter itself. A former Santa Rosa chapter president who knew of a 2012 assault allegation and did not report it was not expelled, and later won a seat on the national board.¹⁶

Where He Is Now

After resigning, Foppoli left Sonoma County for Italy, where his family owns Castello Foppoli. He spent the following years splitting his time between Italy and Windsor and, by his own description, ignoring the civil lawsuits filed against him.¹³ He reportedly married in this period. In May 2025 he announced plans to move back to Windsor permanently, saying he intended to “start a family, fully move back to Windsor and win decisively and completely in civil court.”¹⁷

In the same May 2025 statement, Foppoli said he was “seriously considering” running for mayor of Windsor in November 2026. He said “countless Windsor residents” had encouraged him to return and criticized current town leadership over homelessness, crime, small business closures, a stalled downtown hotel project, and a failed revenue-sharing deal with the Koi Nation over a casino being built near town.¹

Reaction has been split. Former town commissioner Catherine Hanron said Foppoli had done a “very good job” revitalizing Windsor and that things had gone “downhill” since he left. Kshatriya Millick, a former Windsor High School employee, told ABC7, “Normal people aren’t accused of sexual assault.”¹⁸ The Press Democrat editorial board called the prospect an “unwelcome comeback” and urged voters to reject him if he runs.¹⁹ Current Windsor Mayor Rosa Reynoza said she was surprised by the announcement, adding that “people deserve a choice in their elections, no matter who the candidate is.”¹

Reynoza, who beat Esther Lemus 3,848 votes for Lemus in the November 2022 mayoral race, currently holds the seat Foppoli left.²⁰ Lemus, who left the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office in August 2021 after her allegations became public, remains one of the seven plaintiffs whose case goes to trial in July 2026.

1
Press Democrat. Foppoli Windsor Mayor 2026
2
Sonoma County Election Database. Candidate: Dominic Foppoli
3
San Francisco Chronicle. Dominic Foppoli Timeline
4
Press Democrat. Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli, Council Member Esther Lemus Accuse Each Other
5
Press Democrat. Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli Resigns Amid Sexual Assault Investigation
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Los Angeles Times. California Wine Country Newspaper War Over Windsor Mayor Sex Abuse
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CBS News San Francisco. Sonoma County DA Recuses Office From Dominic Foppoli Sexual Assault Probe
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KRON4. No Charges Filed Against Former Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli Accused of Sexual Assault
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San Francisco Chronicle. Esther Lemus, One of Foppoli’s Accusers, to Run for Windsor Mayor
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ABC7 News. Women Accusing Ex-Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli of Sexual Assault Announce Civil Lawsuit
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Press Democrat. Sexual Assault Civil Trial Against Former Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli Set to Begin
12
Sonoma County Superior Court. Tentative Ruling, Case SCV-270527
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Press Democrat. Saying Dominic Foppoli and His Winery Have Defaulted, Farrah Abraham Asks Judge for $20 Million
14
Sonoma County Superior Court. Tentative Ruling, Case SCV-272299
15
San Francisco Chronicle. Dominic Foppoli Lawsuit: Brother Alleges Winery Fund Misuse
16
San Francisco Chronicle. Dominic Foppoli Active 20-30 Sexual Violence
17
Healdsburg Tribune. Dominic Foppoli, Ex-Windsor Mayor, Plans to Move Home and Maybe Run Again
18
ABC7 News. Dominic Foppoli, Ex-Windsor Mayor Who Faced Sex Assault Claims, Considers Return From Italy to Run for Office
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Press Democrat. Sonoma County Windsor Dominic Foppoli Editorial
20
Sonoma County Election Database. Candidate: Esther Lemus