Popcorn sentenced

[Hillbilly Rebel]

[quote="smokerscully1"] Popcorn ain't no hero [/quote]

Your right, "Popcorn ain't no hero." What Popcorn is is Popcorn. If you are looking to make him the poster child for this site, then you are on the wrong tract. He is no more representative of the majority of posters than an athlete who is convicted of drugs or dog fighting or whatever is representative of the whole sports thing.

I realize that most of you have never met Popcorn and probably never will. Popcorn is a 61 - 62 year old man that likes to be thought of as being older. He is of average height, slight build, perpetually bent over and could pay more attention to his personal hygiene. He dresses in bibs, flannel shirt and well worn stetson hat. He chain smokes, cusses every breath and has a somewhat cruel streak that will show its self in insults to you an yours. The drunker he is the more this shows. And above all else, he is a moonshiner. Not the noble fighter of a lost cause, that wages his private war against government oppression and unfair prosecution, but a moonshiner. A person who has repeatedly broken the laws not only in the making, sale and distribution of unlicensed and untaxed liquor, but also of armed assault, illegal drugs and probably things we don't and won't ever know about. He doesn't make shine in little pots and measures it in liters, he makes moonshine in 1,000 gallon stills and sells it in 500 gallon plus increments. He would probably think that most of us are silly and to be take advantage of as being suckers. (Has anyone calculated how much he was making on an annual basis selling his 'shine in 500 Gallon lots?)

What he is is a salesman. He will sell you his book, videos and pose for you for your pictures or sell you his. You will see him driving his model T around Maggie Valley with a still in the back. You might run into him in Climax Virginia, Dawsonville, Ga or wherever there is a moonshine festival. He will also talk with you openly and discuss making moonshine in all aspects. If he likes you he might invite you up to his cabin above Maggie Valley, or his home outside of Newport, TN, especially if he thinks you want to become a customer.

He enjoys an iconic status in Maggie Valley, where his family was one of the original families and owned a lot of valuable property. The locals enjoy the publicity that his antics have brought to the area. After all, it is good for the tourist business off of which they make their living. Most were even willing to overlook his illegal side, however, it seems to be the general consensus that this time he went too far. Many are willing to wink at the occasional quart or gallon of 'shine or applejack or brandy, but not at a wholesale business of thousands of gallons of illegal hooch pouring out on a regular and continuous business. Regardless of their personal feelings, they certainly cannot publicly ignore it or pass it off as harmless, neither can the authorities.

Remember, Popcorn and the size of his operations came to the attention of the authorities when Popcorn got drunk and let his run catch fire to which the fire department had to respond. Then, while on probation and at a time he should have been lying low, he sold 'shine to the feds in hundreds of gallons lots. All the time bragging about the size and quantity of his operation.

He has enjoyed his publicity and all the attention that he has received, celebrity status really, and has probably let it go to his head. Somewhere along the line, his ego, his general disdain for authority, his feelings that he is above the law and his throwing it in the face of the authorities has caused his downfall and his present predicament.

The point of all of this is accept Popcorn for what he is, that is, he is a criminal that had a large scale moonshining operation going for years. Through his own actions, he got caught, plead guilty and now has been sentenced to prison. At best, he is demonstrative of what can happen to anyone who breaks the law, even the unpopular and unfair liquor laws. More to the point, he is an example of how not to do it. Don't sell, don't let your run get away from you, don't become public with what you do and don't begin to think that you are above the law.

Its really a shame because his ability with a still is first rate. He could have worked for a legitimate distillery or even opened one that would have competed with the big boys. No doubt, a group of investors would have gladly laid their money down to invest in such an operation.

Having said that, I still intend to go see him. You see, I still consider him as being my friend and I accept him as a friend with all his faults.

[Husker]

H Reb, thanks for that very well written, and nice heart felt message you have written.

Yes, Popcorn did know exactly what he was getting himself into, and chose to proceed forward. Popcorn is popcorn, as you say. I have never met him, and likely never will. He certainly comes from a bygone time, away from the hustle/bustle that many today have taken as being simply "the way it is". Well, like you said, HE is the way he is, nothing more, nothing less.

However, as mentioned, it IS the law of the land, just or unjust. This is why we on this site take a VERY VERY strong approach against talk or even hinting of selling your final product. Yes, the actual making of it CAN get you into just as much trouble simply producing your own liquor. tater talks about a friend who got popped with a little 15 gallon keg still, going to court same day as someone producing 100's (or was it 1000's) of gallons, and selling, and BOTH got the same sentence (a first offense). However, even though the production is what can get you, it is the SALE that usually gets the law looking into your business. If you do not sell (or do something stupid, like burning your house down), then usually you will be left alone. This is the approach this site advocates UNTIL there is a day where through lobbying the govt, we can get these laws changed to allow this hobby to be legal.

So, yes, Popcorn should not be lifted up to a hero status. Nor should he be a representative face for this web site / forum. Yes, it is a terrible injustice that the greedy powers to be have made his way of life an illegal act. Like you said, he IS a moonshiner, and that is simply WHO he is. But the govt has made it illegal to live that way. Unjust, yes, but unfortunately, THEY are the ones who have the powers.

H.

[Hack]

Yes, it is a terrible injustice that the greedy powers to be have made his way of life an illegal act.

It's actually just as legal as any other business. You just have to get your license and pay your taxes, and on the scale Popcorn was doing it, it would have still been profitable. I know it creates more requirments and hoops to jump through, but if you've got the motivation to make thousands of gallons of hooch why not extend it to a little hoop jumping throughing?

I own my own business, and I don't much like how much goes to taxes. The government gets about a third of everything that goes through the books when it's all added up. To keep it from bugging me too much, I have to look at it as my customers pay my taxes, not me.

Oh, and since the government has decided that I will be a tax collector whether I like it or not, you can be sure I'm not doing it for free. I add a bit to my markup to cover a profit on tax collection. Now I'm taxing the government for taxing me!

[big worm]

HR that was a good post...one worth reading thanks

[Little Lukie]

Hats off to you Hillbilly Rebel! You said it better than I ever could.

[Hillbilly Rebel]

Thanks guys for the nice words. But all I was trying to do was to give my opinion. I have known Popcorn for several years and I thought that I might be able to give a little different aspect than most.

[HookLine]

On the one hand, I don't like seeing people in jail for this sort of crime, and I hope he does his time easy.

On the other hand, Popcorn has been around a while, he knows the score, he knew the risks he was taking. He wasn't just making half a dozen gallons for himself quietly in the barn, every so often, like we do. He was running a lot of commercial booze. He could have gone legal but chose not to, so he has to wear the consequences of being caught.