Deputies make moonshine bust

By DUANE SHERRILL / Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Deputies, from left, Kevin Murphy, Lt. Jody Cavanaugh and Travis Thaxton display a moonshine still seized during the raid of a Beacon Light home near Morrison Monday afternoon. (Duane Sherrill photo)

An alleged bootlegger caught one last buzz as deputies raided his moonshine still Monday afternoon, seizing 12 gallons of white lightning and a cache of moonshine-making components.

The suspect, Roger Wayne Cook, 58, is charged with manufacture of illegal spirits, possession of a still and possession of illegal alcohol for the moonshine operation deputies found at his Beacon Light Road home near Morrison late Monday, an operation lawmen believe Cook had been carrying on for a long time.

Deputies arrived at Cook’s home after being tipped to the location of the still, and were granted permission by the suspect to search the premises.

The officers made a beeline for a barn, finding 12 gallon jugs of moonshine, two large 55-gallon barrels apparently used to store the finished product, along with several fuel tanks and mash to brew the moonshine. Components for the still were found throughout the property, some inside an old car parked outside the barn.

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 over indulgence 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.