Police: 72 quarts of moonshine found on Tennessee man

A Tennessee man has been arrested on charges of ferrying 72 quarts of moonshine and five gallons of homemade wine through a dry county in Kentucky.

Whitley County Sheriff Colan Harrell told The Times-Tribune in Corbin that 54-year-old Bobby Crawford of Newcomb, Tenn., had a wide variety of fruit flavors for the hooch in the back of his van.

"Whatever flavor you want, he had," Harrell said.

Harrell said a deputy stopped Crawford on Thursday for not wearing a seat belt. When the deputy looked closer, Harrell said, he saw canning jars and plastic jugs covering the van's back floor. Whitley County is dry, with alcohol sales allowed only in some restaurants in Corbin.

Crawford was charged with possession of alcohol in a dry territory, illegal transport of alcohol in a dry territory, failure to wear seat belts and failure to maintain insurance. The jail had no record of an attorney.

Deputies initially thought the one-gallon plastic jugs contained moonshine, but Crawford told them it was blackberry wine.

The quart jars each had masking tape labels that indicated the moonshine's flavor. Harrell said the flavors appeared to include apple and peach.

"He claims the moonshine came from Michigan," Harrell said.

Harrell said he will call the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to see if the agency wants to pursue federal charges.

The state charges against Crawford are misdemeanors, Harrell said. If federal charges were made against Crawford, they would be felonies.

Harrell said someone put a lot of effort into making the moonshine, but noted that arrests are rare.

"It's kind of going out of style (but) not quick enough," Harrell said.