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Convicted moonshiner "Popcorn" Sutton dead of apparent suicide
WATE TV6 ^ | 03/17/2009 | WATE

Posted on 03/17/2009 10:11:31 AM PDT by neal1960

PARROTSVILLE (WATE) -- Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton, who gained fame and notoriety as a moonshiner, died Monday in Cocke County, sheriff's deputies said.

According to a Cocke County Sheriff's Office spokesperson, it appeared that Sutton, 61, took his own life in his Parrotsville home.


TOPICS: Local News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: atf; moonshine; revenuers; revenuetickets; suicide; whitelighnin
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Popcorn had rather die than serve time in a Federal prison. Meanwhile, Husseins tax evaders walk away.
1 posted on 03/17/2009 10:11:31 AM PDT by neal1960
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To: neal1960

We’re the government and we’re here to help.


2 posted on 03/17/2009 10:18:55 AM PDT by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: neal1960
"He believed in what he did. He thought what he did was right. A lot of people felt it was a waste of the federal government's money to go after him because he didn't hurt nobody," said Lynn Human.

And we wonder what's wrong with the Federal Government? No, WE don't, WE know what's wrong. They should have left him alone and gone after all of Hussein's relatives here in the USofA unlawfully.
3 posted on 03/17/2009 10:19:08 AM PDT by HighlyOpinionated (The Constitution & Bill of Rights stand as a whole. Remove any part & nullify the whole.)
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To: neal1960

“Legalize it” and “tax the hell out of it”. That’s what some people say on some threads.


4 posted on 03/17/2009 10:19:37 AM PDT by a fool in paradise ("I certainly hope he (Bush) doesnÂ’t succeed" - Democratic strategist James Carville 9-11-2001)
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To: neal1960
R.I.P., "Popcorn".

5 posted on 03/17/2009 10:21:49 AM PDT by evets (beer)
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To: neal1960

His defense should have been that he was producing alternative fuels to save the planet and end global warming. He was a bio-fuel producer, and thus entitled to tax credits, not tax liability.


6 posted on 03/17/2009 10:22:09 AM PDT by rednesss (fascism is the union,marriage,merger or fusion of corporate economic power with governmental power)
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To: neal1960
Why did I instantly think about those dern' Duke boys??

Boss Hog seems to have won this battle.

7 posted on 03/17/2009 10:24:45 AM PDT by rednesss (fascism is the union,marriage,merger or fusion of corporate economic power with governmental power)
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To: neal1960
Too bad. Sounds like this guy knew is stuff.

I wonder how difficult would it be to get a distillery license and produce "moonsine" legally?

8 posted on 03/17/2009 10:25:04 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( Dear Mr. Obama - Please make it rain candy! P.S. I like jelly beans.)
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To: neal1960

I saw a documentary sometime back featuring Popcorn and the white lighting trade.

RIP Popcorn....


9 posted on 03/17/2009 10:25:53 AM PDT by deport
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To: neal1960

Ironic that we couldn’t possibly have the resources to deal with illegal immigration.

Yet we do seem to have the resources to go after old moonshine makers in the Smoky Mountains.


10 posted on 03/17/2009 10:26:32 AM PDT by chrisser (The Two Americas: Those that want to be coddled, Those that want to be left the hell alone.)
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To: neal1960

The guy was only 61 - looked like he was 91. Hard livin will do that to you


11 posted on 03/17/2009 10:28:09 AM PDT by slumber1
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To: neal1960

Moonshiners are harmless and only minding their own business so I sure wish government agencies established solely to tax and attack individuals would be shut down. Of course, this dead moonshiner certainly owes much less in taxes than that Gueitner guy who is now “running” the Treasury Dept.

The moonshiners are only trying to earn a living and retain their independence, nothing more.


12 posted on 03/17/2009 10:31:16 AM PDT by Professor_Leonide (I said to the young man who showed me a photo, "Who can ever be sure what is behind a mask?")
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To: Professor_Leonide

Yeah. Them and the pot growers up Mendocino county way in California.


13 posted on 03/17/2009 10:48:19 AM PDT by the long march
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To: neal1960

He was probably gunned down by revinooers who made it look like he killed himself.


14 posted on 03/17/2009 10:49:44 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Christian and armed)
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To: rednesss

“Why did I instantly think about those dern’ Duke boy”

Well I thought of Junior Johnson, the real deal turned race car driver, and Robert Mitchum, the movie version.

************************************************************

BALLAD OF THUNDER ROAD
Let me tell the story, I can tell it all
About the mountain boy who ran illegal alcohol
His daddy made the whiskey, son, he drove the load
When his engine roared, they called the highway Thunder Road.

Sometimes into Ashville, sometimes Memphis town
The revenoors chased him but they couldn’t run him down
Each time they thought they had him, his engine would explode
He’d go by like they were standin’ still on Thunder Road.

(CHORUS)
And there was thunder, thunder over Thunder Road
Thunder was his engine, and white lightning was his load
There was moonshine, moonshine to quench the Devil’s thirst
The law they swore they’d get him, but the Devil got him first.

On the first of April, nineteen fifty-four
A Federal man sent word he’d better make his run no more
He said two hundred agents were coverin’ the state
Whichever road he tried to take, they’d get him sure as fate.

Son, his Daddy told him, make this run your last
The tank is filled with hundred-proof, you’re all tuned up and gassed
Now, don’t take any chances, if you can’t get through
I’d rather have you back again than all that mountain dew.

(CHORUS)

Roarin’ out of Harlan, revvin’ up his mill
He shot the gap at Cumberland, and screamed by Maynordsville
With T-men on his taillights, roadblocks up ahead
The mountain boy took roads that even Angels feared to tred.

Blazing right through Knoxville, out on Kingston Pike,
Then right outside of Bearden, they made the fatal strike.
He left the road at 90; that’s all there is to say.
The devil got the moonshine and the mountain boy that day.


15 posted on 03/17/2009 11:31:04 AM PDT by Peter Horry (Never were abilities so much below mediocrity so well rewarded - John Randolph)
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To: neal1960
Back when I was in High School, the principal showed us movies of the evils of moonshine - filthy & toxic equipment, animals falling into the mash, etc. The message was clear, this stuff is poison!

Then, the county sheriff told me a story:

He had busted a ‘shiner & confiscated a finely made tabletop still made of copper, & brass. The sheriff used it to make a small batch, & sent some to the state toxicologist for testing. Usually it takes a couple of weeks to get a mailed result, but instead, the state toxicologist called him back real quick. The toxicologist said it was the purist ‘shine he had seen in years, & where could he get some for himself.

16 posted on 03/17/2009 11:32:20 AM PDT by Mister Da (The mark of a wise man is not what he knows, but what he knows he doesn't know!)
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To: neal1960

R.I P. “Popcorn”.

A Local Legend..

Prayers to the Sutton Family.


17 posted on 03/17/2009 11:44:59 AM PDT by Eagle50AE (Pray for our Armed Forces.)
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To: evets

He looks a lot older than 61.


18 posted on 03/17/2009 11:50:29 AM PDT by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: neal1960
Let see...this guy's moonshine was confined to the mountains of tennessee and was hurting no one.

Illegals causing havoc for everyone and we go after a guy name popcorn.

WTF?

19 posted on 03/17/2009 11:54:12 AM PDT by GUNGAGALUNGA
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To: Peter Horry
Blazing right through Knoxville, out on Kingston Pike, Then right outside of Bearden, they made the fatal strike. He left the road at 90; that’s all there is to say. The devil got the moonshine and the mountain boy that day.

I think I will cruise down Kingston Pike, into Bearden and have me a drink in honor of 'Popcorn' after work today. I will, however, be traveling less than 90.

20 posted on 03/17/2009 12:02:34 PM PDT by tnlibertarian (Wealth is earned, not distributed.)
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