Posted on 06/19/2009 8:49:21 AM PDT by BGHater
CHESAPEAKE – A Chesapeake man is among four people charged in an eight-month moonshine investigation in North Carolina and Virginia.
Larry Donnell Parker, 57, of Tournament Drive, faces 12 charges of sale of alcoholic beverages without a license, possessing and transporting untaxed whiskey and maintaining a common nuisance.
Virginia ABC agents say they seized one vehicle and 72 containers of untaxed whiskey when they arrested Parker last Thursday.
They say he would sell the containers for $45 each.
At the same time in Northampton County, NC, three people were arrested on 11 charges total, including the manufacture and distribution of non-tax paid spirituous liquor (moonshine) from North Carolina into Virginia.
N.C. special agents say they seized and destroyed liquor distilleries and distillery parts, $1,900 in currency, vehicles, several gallons of moonshine, and ingredients used in the manufacturing process of moonshine at a site in Johnson County.
North Carolina officials haven’t released the names of those arrested in their state.
Parker is free on his own recognizance, Virginia ABC officials told WVEC.com.
NC ALE Special Agent in Charge Pat Forbis says there's been an increase in cases involving the manufacturing and distribution of non-tax paid spirituous liquor in Eastern N.C. He attributes it to the profitability of this type of business, especially during these economic times.
Sorry brother, Gov't gotta get theirs.
It’s all about the revenue and Uncle Sam’s cut of the profits.
I feel safer already...
Can’t blame the guy. He obviously has moonshine in his blood.
I feel so much safer now!
Oh well.
So much for the party at MY house, this weekend.
Party?
I’m gonna need some pretty hard stuff for the next 4 yrs.
I’m wondering, just how profitable this is? Are taxes that much?
My sister and I both graduated from colleges in Virginia. When I graduated, I was given a diploma and a bible. When my sister graduated college, she was given a diploma and a bottle of moonshine. My dad often wonders which of us was better prepared for post-college life.
I have never understood why, if these guys make a good product, don’t they just pay the d@mn taxes, get a license, and be done with it.
I never understood why you would need a license, and just pay the ‘taxes’ at the end of the year.
Yes.
It’s not just the taxes. It’s licensing fees and over-regulation by our friends at ABC and BATFE.
Plus, many people STILL consider the distilling of one’s own spirits a fundamental individual right. And you can’t put a price on that.
8 months of investigation. They probably spent several hundred thousand dollars trying to get a $45 product.
The “entry fee” for paying taxes on making hard liquor are quite steep IIRC. Doesn’t sound like these guys were making enough to pay the initial tax.
Pity there isn’t a “personal use” exemption like for other fermented fluids. That would take a lot out of the crime incentive.
Because some people don't want the government interfering with or stealing what the good Lord and nature provides in the way of fermentable products.
Jesus's first recorded miracle was making wine for a wedding. Bet he didn't pay taxes, either.
/johnny
Yes, very profitable. That’s why it’s been an issue all the way back to the Whiskey Rebellion.
THAT would be reasonable. But when has the BATFE EVER been reasonable.
VA entreprenuership (sp) at it’s best! Sic semper tyrannis....
I grew up surrounded by a bunch of old moonshiners. They had some good stories to tell.
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