Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 3, 1990 TAG: 9004030383
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOUNT LENGTH: Medium
The felony case is expected to turn on the question: What did Ralph D. Hale intend to do with all that sugar?
"No comment," Hale said Monday when reached at his home in Ferrum.
Authorities contend that Hale, 50, was using the sugar to make white lightning at a nearby still.
The circumstantial case against Hale stands out because suspected moonshiners are almost always caught red-handed at the proofing barrel. Prosecutors have no evidence placing Hale at the scene of a 7,200-gallon still they suspect he was operating.
"This will be a tough one," acknowledged Franklin County Commonwealth's Attorney Cliff Hapgood.
Search warrants on file in county Circuit Court show that state liquor agents compiled evidence - including the eight tons of sugar - that only suggests Hale was involved in the moonshine operation.
State Alcoholic Beverage Control agents were staking out Hale's house on Jan. 17 when a cattle truck pulled into a nearby barn.
During the next two days, ABC agents saw a pickup truck ferry between the barn and the vicinity of the still, which was found off Virginia 781 in January. On Jan. 19, liquor agents raided the barn and found the cattle truck loaded with 100-pound bags of sugar.
Authorities filed felony moonshine-making charges against Hale and another suspect, Silas Lee Wagner, 54, of Ferrum.
The charge against Hale had been dismissed at a preliminary hearing in February, but a grand jury reinstated the charge Monday. Wagner is scheduled to stand trial Thursday.
No trial date has been set for Hale, who once was involved in one of the more ingenious moonshiner operations in recent memory.
In 1980, federal agents discovered an underground still in the Knob Church section of Franklin County that had been disguised as a family cemetery. White-painted cinder block tombstones - adorned with artificial flowers - concealed vents for the burners that cooked the mash.
Hale later pleaded guilty to conspiracy, paid a $5,000 fine and served about six months in a federal prison in West Virginia, court records show.
by CNB