Article: Popcorn Sutton, Legenday Moonshiner, Headed to the Pokey

[Whiskey Taichou]

Not sure if anyone saw this article. I believe people should pay their taxes but sending this guy to jail is pretty silly. Shouldn't the government be more focused on finding Osama Bin Laden and terrorists. Aren't there more dangerous criminals out there who need to come to justice?

WT

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/01/28/popcor...d-to-the-pokey/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Popcorn Sutton, Legenday Moonshiner, Headed to the Pokey

Popcorn Sutton, Legenday Moonshiner, Headed to the Pokey

Popcorn Sutton, Legenday Moonshiner, Headed to the Pokey

Posted by Nathan Koppel

With the economy now reminiscent of the Great Depression, we bring you some legal news straight out of Prohibition.

Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton, a legend of Appalachia, is headed to prison for moonshining and weapons charges. (In case you couldn’t guess, he’s the fellow in the hat in this AP photo.)

Last year, Sutton pleaded guilty to illegal production of distilled spirits and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. A federal judge Monday sentenced him to 18 months in prison, the Asheville Citizen Times reports.

“I’m a very sick man,” Sutton told the paper. “I’d like to die at home instead of in a penitentiary.”

Sutton was arrested in March for allegedly running a moonshining operation that produced hundreds of gallons of the hard stuff.

The defendant was well known thanks to his book “Me and My Likker,” along with Internet videos and cable TV documentaries on how to make moonshine.

Robert Reeves, a federal prosecutor, introduced several of the videos Monday in court, claiming they showed that Sutton “flaunted criminal activity.”

“Your moonshining is a violation of the law,” the judge told Sutton. “I don’t care how it is glamorized on the History Channel or the Discovery Channel.”

We have to imagine that Popcorn is a fan of George Jones, a/k/a “The Possum,” one of the legends of country music.

Here are lyrics from his classic, “White Lightning”

Well in North Carolina, way back in the hills

Me and my old pappy had a hand in a still

We brewed white lightnin’ ’til the sun went down

Then he’d fill him a jug and he’d pass it around

Mighty, mighty pleasin, pappy’s corn squeezin’

Whshhhoooh . . . white lightnin’

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/01/28/popcor...d-to-the-pokey/

[Guest sensei]

Just as Michael Phelps broke the law, neither did anything wrong.

[cowdery]

Don't shed too many tears for Popcorn Sutton, or try to make him into some libertarian poster boy. He's a serial offender and, like most criminals, a selfish prick if not an actual sociopath. He does play the "Aw Shucks" country boy bit to the hilt.

And don't kid yourself if you think moonshiners don't hurt people.

[Wilder]

Don't shed too many tears for Popcorn Sutton, or try to make him into some libertarian poster boy. He's a serial offender and, like most criminals, a selfish prick if not an actual sociopath. He does play the "Aw Shucks" country boy bit to the hilt.

And don't kid yourself if you think moonshiners don't hurt people.

Read your post. It's easy to tell who is the prick!

[cowdery]

Read your post. It's easy to tell who is the prick!

Similarly, anyone who wants to romanticize moonshine and moonshiners should read Max Watman's Chasing the White Dog first.

[delaware_phoenix]

Does that include all the so-called craft distillers (and now majors too) that use moonshine and moonshiner references in order to sell their products?

[tsthornton]

If you haven't seen it, here's an interview done recently by Johnny Knoxville that's a bit more revealing of his character than the documentary. He clearly doesn't give a s**t about you so no need to give a s**t about him. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0b5mW2QF6H4

Not sure if anyone saw this article. I believe people should pay their taxes but sending this guy to jail is pretty silly. Shouldn't the government be more focused on finding Osama Bin Laden and terrorists. Aren't there more dangerous criminals out there who need to come to justice?

WT

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/01/28/popcor...d-to-the-pokey/

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Popcorn Sutton, Legenday Moonshiner, Headed to the Pokey

Popcorn Sutton, Legenday Moonshiner, Headed to the Pokey

Popcorn Sutton, Legenday Moonshiner, Headed to the Pokey

Posted by Nathan Koppel

With the economy now reminiscent of the Great Depression, we bring you some legal news straight out of Prohibition.

Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton, a legend of Appalachia, is headed to prison for moonshining and weapons charges. (In case you couldn’t guess, he’s the fellow in the hat in this AP photo.)

Last year, Sutton pleaded guilty to illegal production of distilled spirits and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. A federal judge Monday sentenced him to 18 months in prison, the Asheville Citizen Times reports.

“I’m a very sick man,” Sutton told the paper. “I’d like to die at home instead of in a penitentiary.”

Sutton was arrested in March for allegedly running a moonshining operation that produced hundreds of gallons of the hard stuff.

The defendant was well known thanks to his book “Me and My Likker,” along with Internet videos and cable TV documentaries on how to make moonshine.

Robert Reeves, a federal prosecutor, introduced several of the videos Monday in court, claiming they showed that Sutton “flaunted criminal activity.”

“Your moonshining is a violation of the law,” the judge told Sutton. “I don’t care how it is glamorized on the History Channel or the Discovery Channel.”

We have to imagine that Popcorn is a fan of George Jones, a/k/a “The Possum,” one of the legends of country music.

Here are lyrics from his classic, “White Lightning”

Well in North Carolina, way back in the hills

Me and my old pappy had a hand in a still

We brewed white lightnin’ ’til the sun went down

Then he’d fill him a jug and he’d pass it around

Mighty, mighty pleasin, pappy’s corn squeezin’

Whshhhoooh . . . white lightnin’

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2009/01/28/popcor...d-to-the-pokey/

[cowdery]

Does that include all the so-called craft distillers (and now majors too) that use moonshine and moonshiner references in order to sell their products?

Absolutely, they're the worst.

'Legal moonshine' is an oxymoron. If it's legal, then it's not moonshine and if it's moonshine then it's not legal.

Popcorn Sutton, by the way, is dead. Suicide.

[delaware_phoenix]

Absolutely, they're the worst.

I'm sure you really mean it too!

Edit:

Originally I was going to write something, then changed my mind, now I'm back to writing something.

The whole fascination with moonshine and moonshiners by both small producers and the public is a doubled edged thing. And I don't think it's all positive in our favor.

If the public comes at it from the "it's illegal/illicit" angle, they might not be as interested when they find it's just some 80 proof spirit, and it won't make you go blind. And it's kind of hard for the producer to publicize that they were a moonshiner before going legit. I know there are people who have had a moonshining grandparent or two, or other relative. At least they have a connection in their family, and in their region.

Most people these days have little to no experience with pot distilled unaged whiskey. And when they have it, they don't know what to make of it being so unlike the column-distilled brown whiskey they're so used to drinking. So while there's a lot of ink being written about it, it's quite unclear whether people will be interested in buying it as more than a curiosity. Maybe it'll be different in other parts of the country.

Edited December 7, 2010 by delaware_phoenix