FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday March 14, 2008
(Greeneville, TN) - Marvin “Popcorn” Sutton ,61, of Parrottsville, Tennessee, author of the book “Me and My Likker” and star of his video “The last run of likker I’ll ever make” appeared before Dennis Inman United States Magistrate for the Eastern District of Tennessee, on Friday, March 14, 2008, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Greeneville.
Sutton is charged in a four (4) count criminal complaint with three (3) federal charges related to the manufacturing , possessing and selling of untaxed whiskey or “moonshine” and one charge of being a convicted felon in possession of firearm. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in federal prison on the firearms count and up to 5 years in prison for each of the moonshining counts. He faces up to a $250,000 fine on each count.
Judge Inman scheduled a detention hearing and preliminary hearing for Sutton on March 28, 2008 at 10:00 am. Until that time, Sutton will be held without bond since he was on probation from Cocke County Criminal Court for a conviction on July 2, 2007 for possession of a still and possession of untaxed liquor at the time of his arrest.
As a result of the investigation, three federal search warrants were executed in Parrottsville Tennessee on March 13, 2008. The attached court documents reflect the seizure of three large stills with capacities up to 1,000 gallons, over eight hundred and fifty gallons of moonshine, and hundreds of gallons of mash, materials and ingredients used to manufacture moonshine, and firearms and ammunition.
The primary law enforcement agencies participating in the investigation leading to the arrest and prosecution of Sutton include the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC) and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee. Also assisting in the investigation was the Office of District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI).
“Moonshine is romanticized in folklore and the movies. The truth though is that moonshine is a dangerous health issue and breeds other crime. This has not changed over the years,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge James Cavanaugh of the Nashville Field Division. Cavanaugh added, “The illegal moonshine business is fraud on taxpayers in Tennessee and across the country.”
For additional information, please contact United States Attorney Russ Dedrick, 865-545-4167, or Public Information Officer Sharry Dedman-Beard, 865-545-4167.