Famed moonshiner kills self to avoid jail

[NightWatcher]

http://www.ajc.com/news/content/news/stories/2009/03/18/moonshiner_kills_self.html?cxntlid=homepage_tab_newstab



KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Famed Appalachian moonshiner Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton, whose incorrigible bootlegging ways were as out of step with modern times as his hillbilly beard and overalls, took his own life rather than go to prison for making white lightning, his widow says.

“He couldn’t go to prison. His mind would just not accept it. … So I credit the federal government for my husband being dead, I really do,” Pam Sutton told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday from the couple’s home in the Parrottsville community, about 50 miles east of Knoxville.

<snip>

Sutton conceded he was part of a dying breed in an interview last year with actor Johnny Knoxville for a video posted on Knoxville’s “Jackass” Web site.

“All the rest of them that I know are dead,” Sutton said in the profane, not-for-primetime clip. “I just hope and pray they don’t send me off (to prison).”

Sutton’s widow said he’d just gotten a letter to report Friday to a medium-security federal prison in South Georgia to begin an 18-month sentence for illegally producing distilled spirits and being a felon in possession of a gun. He had pleaded guilty last April.

On Monday, she came home from running errands and found him dead in his old Ford. Authorities suspect carbon monoxide poisoning. Autopsy results may be weeks away

<snip>

Sutton’s last arrest followed a raid in which authorities found nearly 1,700 gallons of moonshine in Parrottsville and a storage unit in Maggie Valley, N.C., three stills, supplies, firearms and ammunition.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

1. Yep, and people still go to jail

for ingesting drugs that cause them to feel euphoric.

Victimless crimes? Well, this dude had quite the armaments, but I can't blame him.

Still, who was harmed by what this man did? What a fucking drag this country can be ......................

[Lars39]

2. You can go blind or die if the 'shine isn't made right.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

7. I know ...........

When I was a kid, the man across the street died from bad moonshine

And people in the US die from contaminated peanuts, spinach, anything. Life is full of risks.

If moonshine were legal, and controlled, maybe just as many people would die from alcohol poisoning then as they do today.

[DemBones DemBones]

20. I think more people are dying from police tasers

than from moonshine these days. And I can easily refuse if someone offers me moonshine, can't refuse police doing whatever they like.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

25. You got that right

Ah, the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I was reading about a taser that works from something like thirty feet away, and you don't have to make contact. I might get myself one, and use it when the cops come after me.

That would work......

[DemBones DemBones]

30. There's a thought. . .

:rofl: at your sig line.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

33. Matt Taibbi

He always gets it right.

I'm a fan ..................

[WeDidIt]

51. Moonshine IS legal and controlled

You need a license to make it.

Jim Beam and Jack Daniels are examples of two companies complying with the controls.

[Edweird]

62. Jim Beam and Jack Daniels are not moonshine.

Everclear is more like it.

[HillbillyBob]

9. ahh but He KNEW what he was doing.

I come from the mountains too.

[cabluedem]

15. The Bubba's will paint this man as a harmless "Uncle Jessie" type redneck, never considering how....

many steps he had to cut to make his rot-gut poison cheaper then store bought booze.

[cobalt1999]

18. Most moonshiners drink their own stuff

With the taxes on distilled liquor, you don't have to cut corners, nor is price the reason many make it themselves.

[Cirque du So-What]

19. That's completely untrue

What he made was far from rotgut.

You obviously didn't see the documentary, since he took painstaking care to ensure that everything went off alright.

Good 'shine will fetch a higher price than the most fancy-schmancy vintage imaginable.

Rotgut? I laugh in your face!

[Tangerine LaBamba]

29. I've had the real stuff .........

It's extraordinary. I loved it. It knocked my husband out. I had more, and just loved it.

Our of a mouthwash bottle hidden under my mother's small-town butcher's block. In NE Pennsylvania.

Lovely stuff. Anyone who calls it rotgut is betraying their cluelessness. Sort of like damning Italians who grow their own grapes, make their own wines, like my grandfather did. That wine was lovely, too.

[Summermoondancer]

40. Moonshine tastes disgusting..but

it is fantastic for ethanol fuel...

[C......N......C]

49. I'm not promoting illegal spirits, but home made beer, wine and whisky have been

the best tasting drinks I have tasted. The main problem is they are much more potent than store bought drinks.

[Summermoondancer]

53. Nothing illegal about making your own.

It isn´t illegal to make your own as far as I know. It is only illegal to sell it. That may vary from state to state, but moonshine is...well...bleck! Howeve,r I agree that wine is very good if it is homemade...watermelon wine is fantastic...the country song had it to a tee...

[whopis01]

60. It is quite illegal to make your own

See Title 26, Subtitle E, Chapter 51, Subchapter J, Part I, 5601

5 years in prison and/or $10,000 fine under federal law.

[C......N......C]

48. The only thing bad about the moonshine that I drank was that it was too smooth

for the power behind it.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

27. Now, you're confusing me ..........

You are using "Bubba" as if it's the opposite of "redneck" and here I see them as pretty much the same thing, so, while you're apparently trying to slam someone, I'll be damned if I can tell who you're trying to slam.

Wanna try that one in English, maybe? Hmmmmmmmmm?

[HillWilliam]

35. That is a very bigoted, uneducated remark

And wholly a product of successful propaganda. Making liquor is a careful art form, a long-standing tradition, and some damned hard work when done correctly. Just like everything else that's commercialized, the commercial version is far closer to poison (let's talk about HFCS, GM foods, Roundup-Ready crops, cloned meat for the dinner table).

How unfortunate a DU'er should come across with such a remark without proper perspective. If you had watched the documentary or had grown up in the mountains you would understand that the man (or anyone else) was most certainly not making poison.

ADM, Monsanto, Cargill, Dow -- now those are certainly making poison and you consume their products readily and daily. Popcorn's product was produced naturally, without additives and without genetic fooling around.

Who's pushing poison?

Let's have some perspective here.

[blindpig]

46. To my experience it's not that much cheaper.

Lot of those boys aren't in it for the money, it's the craft and tradition, runs are generally small and sometimes customized with fresh cherries or peaches, tho I prefer 'clear'. Haven't seen any for a few years now, just don't get up that way.

Not sayin' there ain't no bad shit out there, gotta watch what you get in the city.

[Sequoia]

57. How would you know that.

It was probably good stuff since no one died from drinking it. Prohibition was bad for our country and it brought about people like him trying to make a living back during the depression. Some of that store bought stuff is terrible anyway.

[slampoet]

3. i used to know a pot dealer who gave you a six-pack of his home brew beer with every bag of weed....

He would sell you the bag of weed and then lead you to his brew storage and ask you to take a sixpack EVERY time because if we didn't take it he wasn't going to be able to drink it all by the time it went all funny tasting. Even when he made small batches.

So one day i was going to a big party and asked him if i could BUY a few more six-packs of beer.

He said "Hell NO!!! Are you crazy? i can't sell beer without a brewers license, i could go to jail for 20 years!!"


Turns out the penalty for selling weed (even in much greater amounts) is MUCH LESS time than for selling beer that you brew yourself.

[NashVegas]

22. The Irony Will Be

That if MJ proponents get their way and get it legalized, the penalty for growing and selling your own to individuals will likely be about the same.

[lynnertic]

26. so don't sell it. n/t

[NashVegas]

28. Thank You For That Amazing Contribution

to the conversation.

[lynnertic]

32. My observation was much more positive than your whiney-butt complaining.

Some things aren't worth selling. Greed is out of fashion.

Some folk have to monetize everything... and furthermore think it's OK to game a system (in this case, an imaginary system of growing pot for sale) by playing 'capitalist' without getting the right licenses. The greedy bastards sit typing with such hubris, as if they weren't part of the problem.

So, in this hypothetical, I say give it away or cough up the tax that made it legal to use.

May you find something to be happy about.

[NashVegas]

45. You're Just a Regular Suzie Sunshine For Regulation to Keep the Undesirables Out

Aren't ya?

[lynnertic]

50. Oh no, I'm just some sort of lynnertic.

[Raine]

4. Jail time is just a consequence of

illegal activity and you have to consider it and decide if what you're doing is worth it or not. I know the thought of jail scares me so much that I don't even jaywalk or litter. :scared: Very sad that it ended this way for him, he was the last of his kind. :-(

[Lance_Boyle]

54. He was not the last.

Far from it.

[Cirque du So-What]

5. I saw Popcorn Sutton on the Documentary Channel earlier this week

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/tv/the-last-one-popcorn-and-moonshine-in-north-carolina

The episode I saw was obviously a re-run.

Damn, that's sad. It's like some twisted version of Les Miserables.

Some of my ancestors were chased from western Pennsylvania during the Whiskey Rebellion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whiskey_Rebellion

[HillWilliam]

12. I have a theory that some of my Appalachian kinfolk

wound up on the Blue Ridge for the same reason. I have an awful lot of kinfolk in Jackson, Haywood, Buncombe, and Macon Counties, all right around where Popcorn lived. The Rader in the film was likely kin of kin. It's hard to tell since a lot of the links back break in Rutherford County about the time of the Whiskey Rebellion. The other lines in my family are a lot easier to trace. Several of my mountain lines are reputed to be Melungeon, so there will probably never be any provenence like I have on the rest of my genealogy. Still, it's a life's work trying to trace it all.

I wrote an email to Neal Hutcheson, the producer, the other night and got a very nice email back. I wrote:

Dear Mr Hutcheson,
Thanks for the work you've been doing to preserve mountain history. I had bought and thoroughly enjoyed The Prince of Dark Corners last year. I also enjoyed the short feature on the same disk with Popcorn Sutton. Last week we were all deeply saddened to hear of his passing.

By purest serendipity, I happened on the Documentary Channel last night to catch The Last One. It was a bit like watching a ghost, but at once comforting to know that you had managed to preserve a bit of our vanishing mountain culture. When Popcorn's friends and family sat around and played and sang, it reminded me of my own childhood when my daddy's family were mostly still alive. We did the same thing around at the old home place in Black Mountain/Montreat. You see, music and likker were part of my own family, too. The stories, 'ell law, the stories... you brought back some sweet and almost hideously funny memories for me.

I shed a tear for Popcorn, one for your friendship with him, one for me, and one for all of us.

All well and tastefully done. Too often we mountain-folk are portrayed as something less than human, less than intelligent, and, well, "less than". My appreciation to you for showing our strength, resourcefulness, ingenuity, and rich heritage. Even those of us who "make it out" never really leave.

Kindest regards,
X

He responded:

X ,
Thanks very much. I can't tell you how much I appreciate hearing
this. I did not grow up in the mountains and it has been a real
privilege to get to know mountain culture and mountain people. There
is still a lot of prejudice towards mtn people in the public media,
and all I can say is, people just don't know what they're missing.
Neal

[pacalo]

39. Did you happen to see the documentary, "American Hollow", by Rory Kennedy?

It was shown on HBO in the 1990s. It was about one large Appalachian family & it was absolutely mesmerizing. Kennedy did a great job.

In case you didn't see it, you can watch segments of it here.

[HillWilliam]

41. No I didn't get to see that one

but thank you very, very much. I'm deep into genealogy, and NC history having collected about 15 generations of my own family. I have such a treasure trove I'm sitting on that's going to take me years to get fully online. (Look for me in the DU genealogy forum about mid-summer when I debut my new genealogy site.) My family does the DAR/SAR/UDC/Colonial Dames thing.

I'm kin to a great load of Appalachian and NC coastal names. My roots go into NC soil easily over 300 years; I have tendrils into NY Dutch colonies way back earlier than that. Likker, seawater, and bluegrass music run in my veins :)

Thanks so much for the link. When I get up in the morning I absolutely will watch.

[pacalo]

42. You're welcome!

You're going to love it! I regret that Kennedy didn't do a follow-up on the family.

I'm going to bookmark this page so that I'll remember to check out your genealogy site. :)

[Bryn]

44. I wish I had seen this program

My grandfather on Mom's side was a part of the mountain culture. His mother, my great grandmother, chewed snuffy into her 90's and my great-grandfather was a moonshiner. They came from Mississippi area. This culture is disappearing, but I enjoyed hearing stories about them when I was growing up (born in Florida).

RIP Popcorn :(

[Kalyke]

47. I grew up in Knoxville - family was from all counties surrounding Knoxville

and my great-grandmother was a Sutton.

Betcha Popcorn is a relative of mine.

And, if he is, I'd be proud.

[HillWilliam]

55. It's likely, if you go back far enough

I've done a lot of research on my own family lines and saw a lot of migration from Buncombe/Jackson/Haywood/Macon directly to the counties surrounding K'ville. In the late 1700's and early 1800's, it wasn't uncommon for male settlers to have a white family on the NC side of the ridge and a Native family on the TN side. I've got distant Native cousins that way. We've just started gathering our extended families together in the last decade. Makes for some damn good food at the reunions, lemme tell ya :)

Wouldn't it be a kick to find out ol' Popcorn was a branch-cousin? It's amazing what falls out when you start shakin' that family tree...

[TheCowsCameHome]

6. Imagine following him around for a month.

He must've been one interesting dude............

[FLyellowdog]

8. He's from near my childhood hometown

and related to people I know. Sad...he was just an old mountain man doing what old mountain men have done for years. He will be missed. :cry:

[HillWilliam]

37. You might be kin, then

or kin to kin. My roots run deep in Haywood, Jackson, and Macon Counties. That's some beautiful country. I tried to find work there so I could move back home, but I wound up in Caswell instead. It's not as hilly here, but I have a rural patch of ground, a micro-farm to work, some good earth to be next to.

I had a good time in Florida, but after 25 years it was time to come home.

I'm not ashamed of being an Appalachian mountain man; I'm right proud of it.

There aren't many like Popcorn left, though. It hurt to see him go. :cry:

[BlooInBloo]

10. (shrug) BillyJoe Bob decided what was worth what to him.

[TheCowsCameHome]

11. Another bit of Americana is gone.

Whenever I hear of someone like "Popcorn" passing I feel a certain sadness, although I never knew much about him.

RIP, Mr. Sutton

[dysfunctional press]

13. if he couldn't do the time, he shouldn't have done the crime.

what a coward- too afraid of being incarcerated for 18 months in medium security.

good riddance.

[Cirque du So-What]

16. I rec'd this thread

just so it would hit the Greatest Page and your misanthropic remark would get wider exposure. 'Dysfunctional' doesn't even begin to describe it!

[dysfunctional press]

17. ...

:eyes:

how will i ever get to sleep tonite...? :rofl:

[Cirque du So-What]

21. Oh, no problem, I'm sure

but thanks for confirming my theory. It's people with normal affect who have trouble getting to sleep at night.

[Name removed]

59. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dysfunctional press]

63. nobody put a gun to the guy's head...

he openly and supposedly 'proudly' broke the law for DECADES- and then he's too much of a sissy to actually own up to the responsibility of HIS chosen actions- and people are supposed to feel sorry for him or something??

here's a question for you- how would you feel about the situation if it were an aig exec who offed himself rather than go to prison for 18-months for HIS mis-deeds? :shrug:

[Name removed]

61. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dysfunctional press]

64. in what regard?

but then- i probably shouldn't expect somebody who has no respect for the rules they agreed to follow on du to have any regard for law-and-order in actual society either...:shrug:

[aikoaiko]

14. Another victim of the old war on drugs.

What's the freakin point?

RIP Popcorn. People like you take their freedom seriously.

[NashVegas]

52. It's So Much More Than That

I think it's a way on people who try to find ways of making a living without answering to any authority. Whether it's the government, Wall St., or drug cartel thugs, everyone wants a piece of the action.

[ColbertWatcher]

23. So, is this going to be another Waco? Or Ruby Ridge?

Will the fringe elements jump on this as an excuse to express their violent tendencies?

[MineralMan]

24. Copper Kettle

Get you a copper kettle, get you a copper coil
Fill it with new made corn mash and never more you'll toil
You'll just lay there by the juniper while the moon is bright
Watch them just a-filling in the pale moonlight.

Build you a fire with hickory, hickory, ash and oak
Don't use no green or rotten wood, they'll get you by the smoke
You'll just lay there by the juniper while the moon is bright
Watch them just a-filling in the pale moonlight.

My daddy he made whiskey, my granddaddy he did too
We ain't paid no whiskey tax since 1792
You'll just lay there by the juniper while the moon is bright
Watch them just a-filling in the pale moonlight.

[Name removed]

31. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lint Head]

34. I never knew my grandfather but he was a moonshiner that was killed

by federal treasury agents in the 1920's.
:dem:

[Alcibiades]

43. My grandfather also made moonshine

Started out running it for others and then started making it himself. That landed him an 18-month stint in Atlanta back in the 1930's. Came out reformed and Christian, but still one of the nicest people I've ever known.

[RB TexLa]

36. Speaking as the grandson and great grandson of people involved in as

we always called it a "corn related" business, they aren't all dead.


Disclaimer: That's just my guess.

:)

[HillWilliam]

38. Perzakkaly

Speaking as the son, stepson, grandson, great-grandson, and great-great-grandson of folks in the corn-related business, no, they aren't all dead. My predecessors all died peacefully of natural causes, thankyouverymuch. I appreciate you sticking up for us, though.

[Sequoia]

56. I could never understand why brewing your own is agains the law.

This is very sad news indeed. Poor fellow.

[dysfunctional press]

65. brewing "your own" ISN'T generally against the law...

but SELLING the stuff to other people without the proper licensing and taxes is.

[alcibiades_mystery]

58. That's some Point Break style shit right there

Don't fence me in...