Moonshine maker to serve 10 days
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The defendant, Roger Wayne Cook, 58, was directed to serve 10 days of an 11-month, 29-day sentence for manufacture of an alcoholic beverage and violation of probation. He must also pay $50 plus court costs and attend AA meetings.
Officers, acting on a tip about the ongoing bootlegging operation, found 12 gallons of moonshine during a raid of Cook’s Beacon Light Road property, discovering the cache in a barn and an old car. They also found two 55-gallon barrels they believe were used for storage. They would later find the still itself, something which had been concealed from them during the original raid.
While deputies were finding the still, lawmen suspect Cook was busy polishing off some of the evidence, namely the 13th gallon of moonshine he kept at his house as officers encountered what appeared to be a very intoxicated Cook when they came to take him into custody. The old-time bootlegger required medical attention reportedly for his overindulgence in his own white lightning.
Lawmen say this is one of the few stills found in the past decade as the age of moonshine stills was replaced by the age of meth labs during the 1990s.
Deputies suspect Cook was selling some of his moonshine given the large amount found at the scene and despite his alleged drinking habit.