Home Distiller

A truly depressing read. I think if you had hired an attorney, you might have been able to get the evidence thrown out and walked, but that probably would have cost thousands. You got off about as easily as anyone could expect, and the $5 fine is a small ray of hope that at least one member of the court gets it.

Even if you had gotten it thrown out, they'd still know about you without the conviction, so effectively you're out of the game regardless.

Glad the Man didn't tear your house apart. I bet the guy who vouched for you took a large ration of shit from his fellow cops. They LOVE to do that, just to be dicks.

The only people who have tasted my shine are fellow distillers and a guy who is now legal who got started shining and is totally supportive of craft distilling. If I was ever stupid enough to take some to a party or get together, I'd claim my crazy paranoid neighbor made it, and he always keeps his shades down and is a really good shot. That'd shut up the curious, but I won't even do that.

Im no law man, dont have a clue. But if the police showed up in your shed uninvited, isnt that wrong? Can they do that? So I should be doing my run in my garage behind locked doors, and smoked out window. Dont answer the door for anyone unless you KNOW who it is. That is a crying shame. The worst part is now you dont dare partake in your beloved hobby again. Unless by some shred of luck we get it legalized some day. . I always thought the guys gettin busted had illegal drugs, or other actually bad crimes going on to get the secondary moonshine bust. But hell know, you are the average guy just like all of us. This could happen to any one of us. This is a bummer

Friend of mine got poped when his shed caught fire and 2 of the volunteer firefighters were also deputys who called atf on him.A 15 gallon ss keg reflux assembled but not running.Atf told him they wouldn't of pursued it if deputy's hadn't pushed it . Before it was over with they had 1/2 the county law there thinking a reflux still was a meth lab. My friend got 125 dollar fine and 1 year probation and 18 months prayer of judgment .But now has a felony on his record.

So his still didnt even cause the fire tater?

18 months prayer of judgment

What is this?

A basic definition of a "Prayer for Judgement" is a plea that can be entered in a courtroom and is neither an admission of guilt nor a plea of innocence. If the plea is accepted by the judge the charge against the accused is dismissed though the judge usually has conditions for the violation to not go on the person's record.

The conditions normally include that if within a certain time period the accused repeats the crime or a similar one he/will face both charges. However if the accused stays clean for the time period the record is expunged and the accused will face no trial or punishment for the alleged offense. In North Carolina the probationary time period is typically three years.

Sticks in my craw to think this could have been worse.

Worse??? WTF does that even mean? World is goin to hell in a hand basket and this is all they've got to do??

So sorry this happened to you.

This is all very enlightening. I always took the attitude that the law wouldn't bother with me for the small amount I make, but all it would take is for the law to get the wrong address and end up at my house while I'm stillin.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
myerfire

Thanks guys for all the support.
I'll try to answer some of you alls ?'s
Hate to type.I did hire a laywer $2000.00 The best in these parts.
They can come in with out a warrant .probable cause.
One officer stayed One went for the warrant,then comes the possy.
Or thats the law here,I don't really know the law but thats what my lawyer said.
And your rite about them watching me I have been told by a good source.
I won't be able to do what I love best any more or any time soon.
I have never done drugs in my live,But If stopping drugs is like stopping distilling I feel sorry for them.
Every time I see a oak barrell or a peice of shinny copper pipe it kills me.
I was looking at the pics of your stills and reading info. and the wheels started turning but I know better.
Its very hard not to set back up I fight it every day.
But I will keep reading about it and learning mabey one day it will be legal.
So keep posting I learned a lot from all of you
happy distilling

Really sorry for your circumstances. It pisses me off to see people who havent ever done a bad thing to anyone get taken , while some low-life jackoff farms drugs into the streets and walks whenever they please.

+10 SB

Hey runingkind, tough giving up something you love doing just because of bad timing. Anyways, thanks for posting your experience; I used to leave my setup usually overnite while it cooled, now I tear it down right away, even though I live in the country. Take care, bd.

ed - I can always get them to smell my dunder pit ... that should send them packing

One maybe final question. Seems to me they have to catch you while the still is running, right..Other wise it's a piece or art you built for a guy, or a water still, or an oils still, or??? Now lets say you have some stored liquor. A guy keeps two unopened bottles (has the tax stamp on it) of ever clear on the shelf as well. Last time I checked it was not illegal to flavor spirits w/o distilling, so they would have to prove you wrong on that with lab analysis as well...My last question is did they send the "bottled substance" to a lab and have it analyzed with calibrated instruments??? Seems to me the law would need to spend a lot of time and money on one little still bust in order to produce the evidence to back it up. Just thinking out loud....

some freedom we have eh
sorry about the bad luck you are a good guy
thanks for telling us the details
good luck sleder

Time to think about camuflated stills.

How you like this one I saved it from an asian site some time ago.

There are some clay artist about 40 km from me, one day I'm gonna let 'em make one of this flower pots.

Ozone I was running my still,if I hadn't made a plea they probabley would had it tested.

The more I read this post, the more i stew over it. I put myself in yer shoes, and I feel so bad. You wernt making drugs, or selling (like most of the people that get caught). If I had to quit stillin for reasons like this, I would go crazy. You were doing nothing wrong. What is wrong with this world?

MuleKicker wrote:The more I read this post, the more i stew over it. I put myself in yer shoes, and I feel so bad. You wernt making drugs, or selling (like most of the people that get caught). If I had to quit stillin for reasons like this, I would go crazy. You were doing nothing wrong. What is wrong with this world?

To much Damn government

That is a topic in itself. But no politics.

Kentucky shinner wrote: To much Damn government

This.

Too much Government, to much big interest groups -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulatory_capture" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

It boils down to big bussiness an gubmint monopoly. Get gubmint approval on condition that you hand over 100% of the take. Sounds like Mafia to me.

welcome to bootlegin.

how they keep all the stuff in your shed? you need a diferent lawyer.
you say they was gonna test it if it wont cookin? likker evaperates. what they testin .
hydrometer is for testin baterys. everythang got dual purposes you gotta no what they is!

so im tole

They are simply following the age-old moneygrubbin lies established by the likker cartell.

Right, but they are MORE dangerous than the likker cartells. Nobody sees them comin cuz veggies aint a drug. Most everyone sees them as "harmless". Plus the government hasnt bastardized the veggie industry, so consumers aint given them the stink eye. <---- thats my best stinkeye.

that is super scary. fucked. i hate to think about that side of this whole game, but guess it's wise to.

wish i could send you a couple bottles, but them fuckers prolly go through your mail. thanks for sharing.
best luck to you...run!

Kentucky shinner wrote:

MuleKicker wrote:The more I read this post, the more i stew over it. I put myself in yer shoes, and I feel so bad. You wernt making drugs, or selling (like most of the people that get caught). If I had to quit stillin for reasons like this, I would go crazy. You were doing nothing wrong. What is wrong with this world?

To much Damn government

Yup.

I've totally shut down home operation to prevent this very scenerio. Where I'm going legit, I can't have an alcohol related felony for 5 years prior to application, any felony for 3. If something happend around here and "the man" showed up while I was runnin, I'd be screwed. I get to ease my pain with building, reading here, posting, building, chatting, building...

So sorry this happened.