ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 15, 1997 TAG: 9704150072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE THE ROANOKE TIMES
Agents were able to catch the whiskey makers by sneaking in and dropping a harmless tracer chemical in the mash.
Federal agents in Southwest Virginia have pretty much gotten out of the illegal-liquor enforcement business. But they made an exception for Amos Law, a moonshiner with a long history of selling illegal whiskey.
Law and four co-defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy and other charges Monday in U.S. District Court. Another co-defendant, Law's nephew, has pleaded not guilty and will go to trial.
Law, a 61-year-old with a second-grade education, was named as a ringleader in a 1980 federal indictment and spent a year in prison. This time, with federal sentencing guidelines in place, the punishment could be longer.
Law is accused of setting up two still operations in 1995 and 1996 in Pittsylvania County. He supplied everything and recruited the others to help him, either as "still hands" or as haulers, the indictment says.
State Alcoholic Beverage Control Board agents began the 18-month investigation, then asked the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to get involved so they could take the case to federal court. Sentences in federal court are generally stiffer than in state court.
Charging moonshiners federally "gives them a lot more to think about," said J.E. Beheler, head of the multijurisdictional illegal-liquor task force in Franklin County. "Whether it's a deterrent, I don't really know."
All of the defendants are known to ABC agents, he said.
Law's brother, Everette "Peanut" Law, also pleaded guilty, along with Lewis Ayers, Dan Boothe and Berkely Whitlock. They all pleaded guilty to conspiracy and various charges related to their roles in the operation.
ABC agents staked out one of the stills and sneaked in while the whiskey was still in the early "mash" stage. They dropped in a tracer chemical, a neutral agent that is undetectable and harmless for consumption. The chemical stays in the liquor after it's been distilled.
The chemical showed up in whiskey found around the state and in a truckload seized in Chesterfield County when a state lab tested it, ATF Special Agent Scott Fairburn testified Monday.
The group also is charged with running a brandy still, which they only ran once a year when the right fruit was available, Fairburn said.
Although the group pleaded guilty, there is still much dispute over how much money the stills made and how much taxes the group failed to pay on the liquor.
The prosecution contends that the taxes Amos Law should have paid on his liquor total $685,000, and the same for Whitlock. Peanut Law is responsible for up to $23,500 in unpaid taxes, Ayers $8,925, and Boothe, $676,800, according to the government.
Those numbers will be the subject of much dispute at the group's sentencing.
Amos Law's attorney, Chris Kowalczuk, said, "There are some big issues left to litigate."
No trial date has been set for Everette Kenneth "Kenny" Law, Peanut's son.
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