However, Popcorn's estranged daughter Sky Sutton believed her father died by his terms. She was one of six children born to a sharecropper and a housewife. Pam has worked for NSW Police for 11 years as a General Administrative Support Officer. His parents lived in a wooden house in a mountain perched beside a tumbling stream. The man behind the raid was one of the countrys most infamous ATF agents, James Cavanaugh (a fellow Tennessean, who became known for leading the Waco and Unabomber raids), and he vowed to take Popcorn down. Pam said that a few days later, after coming home from running errands, she found her husband dead in his Ford. The two made a deal to open Popcorn Sutton Distilling and sell his whiskey on the open market, taxes and all. Many moonshiners associate Popcorn Sutton with moonshine. The epitaph on his footstone reads "Popcorn Said Fuck You".[14][25]. As only a legend would be, Popcorn Sutton was actually buried twice. Sutton's memorial grew in spectacle as country music singer Hank Williams Jr. flew in to pay his respects. Authorities suspect carbon monoxide poisoning. I met him once at his little shack in Cherokee. What To Know About the Shows Creatures, Is the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad Worth It? [34] Country music stars attending the launch event included Martina McBride, Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, Travis Tritt, Tanya Tucker, Zac Brown, Josh Thompson, Kentucky Headhunters, Little Big Town, Colt Ford, Montgomery Gentry, Jaron and the Long Road to Love, and Lee Brice. Even though he is no longer alive, his legacy of moonshine production lives on. The family descended from the wave of immigrants who brought their whiskey recipes to the area when they arrived in the 1700s. I met Popcorn in a restaurant in Maggie Valley around 1997. "He would tell you exactly what he thought, whether you wanted to hear it or not. He published the book at his junk shop in Maggie Valley. My favorite place of hanging out, how not the kitchen! At a time when moonshining and bootlegging were considered illicit in the United States, Sutton established his empire with just one barrel. Read on for all the details about her life now. Sutton's widow said he'd just gotten a letter to report Friday to a medium-security federal prison in south Georgia to begin an 18-month sentence for illegally producing distilled spirits and. Hutchesons coffee table book style biography, The Moonshiner Popcorn Sutton is a glimpse into Popcorns wit, jokes and hillbilly way of life. He also had a coffin ready in his living room. Sutton began his moonshining and bootlegging empire with just one barrel, that too, at a time when they were considered illicit businesses in the US. ", Popcorn's death remains a topic of discussion this year, as another supporter said, "Remember the Feds killed Popcorn Sutton just because he made his own whiskey on his own land. I sounded like absinthe. "He was a true moonshiner," his widow added. It received a 2009 Southeast Emmy Award. 4 mos. "The way she's breathing is just freaking me the f-k out, man" Josh said during the scary experience. Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate and a partner of other affiliate programs including Booking.com, CJ and Tripster, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases via links found in this article. Now 62 and fighting kidney failure, Popcorn faced 15 yearslikely his last onesbehind bars. DK. [4] The source footage from the 2002 documentary was also re-worked into another Hutcheson documentary, The Last One, which was released in 2008 and was broadcast on PBS. Sutton was arrested by an undercover police officer in 2008 after he admitted to storing large amounts of illegal alcohol in another location. Still, his name is synonymous with one of the countys greatest claims to fame: Real mountain moonshine. On October 24, 2009, his body was moved to his Parrottsville estate. Living in this area, he made friends with all the sheriffs and local leaders, Fontes, stocky and dark-haired, tells me one afternoon in his wood-paneled office. 33 Years old foodie & cookie lover. Later, in 1981, Sutton was convicted and sentenced in the Haywood County Superior Court in North Carolina for felony possession of a controlled substance. Moreover, there were several petitions made to reduce his sentence. When the federal government tried to tax the stuff in the late 1700s, the mountainside distillers violently fought back in what became known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Some people have questioned whether or not Pam Sutton is worthy of the money she has been left. Pam brings more than 25 years of healthcare industry experience and currently serves as Senior Vice President and Regional Chief Operating Officer of New York Presbyterian. If you are able, please support The Smoky Mountain News. Popcorn was one of a kind, a man who told it like it was! says Williams. [7], Sutton died by suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning on March 16, 2009, apparently to avoid a federal prison term due to begin a few days later. To start the business, Sutton borrowed money from Nick Price. Popcorns nickname dates to a barroom brawl between himself and a popcorn machine. Reports vary on why he was exhumed and reburied. This left Pam to raise their children largely on her own. There is no doubt that JB and Bill will be fondly remembered as two exceptional individuals. The book also offers a better understanding of how the people of the region survived. Popcorn Suttons wife, Maybelle, died in 2012 after a long illness. This is the Last Dam Run of Likker Ill Ever Make, The Greenbrier Gatlinburg: The best and most haunted restaurant in town, Dign Zone construction theme park coming soon to Sevierville TN, Is Mountain Monsters Real? moonshine must be made from cracked corn, and the kernels must be large enough to break down into sugar during fermentation. And the skirmishes continue: After his daughter Regina fulfilled his lifelong wish by burying him next to his parents at the Bend of the River, Pam Sutton exhumed his remains and buried him back in her own front yard at an elaborate ceremony attended by many, including Hank Williams Jr. Over a jar of moonshine at Popcorns cabin, Pam tells me with tearful eyes that his grave site had been getting desecrated, and she wanted him close to home. Fans Want to Know Why 'Moonshiners' Star Tickle Was in Jail Again! Whatever he earned from trading the barrels to Nick would go back into the next batch of products, and he would leave with little to spend on his household. Sutton, an infamous moonshiner, had been trying to outrun revenuers for more than three decades now. View the profiles of people named Pamela Sutton. In March 2008, Sutton informed an undercover federal officer about the moonshine gallons in Tennessee and Maggie Valley, which he wanted to trade. A popcorn net worth of between one and seven million dollars is estimated for Sutton Popcorn. He was convicted of moonshining and illegal firearm possession offenses and was scheduled to report to federal prison in March 2009, but he committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. In March 2009, Sutton, 62, died of carbon monoxide poisoning. Don Sundquist, visiting for an annual homecoming event, Sutton decided to cook up some real sour mash and dispense it to the crowd in little paper cups. Knoxville marveled at the wood-burned sign over the bedroom doorway inside that read this is a watch yourself fuck and eat pussy bedroom. Popcorns homemade cunnilingus contraption hangs in the doorway to this day, as I see when his widow, Pam Sutton, a heavyset, short-haired woman in a sleeveless brown shirt and jean shorts, gives me a tour of the cabin her husband built by hand. Crime, whiskey & homemade sex machines: The life, death and legacy of Popcorn Sutton, Americas greatest moonshiner. [8][15] Sutton next appeared in another Hutcheson film that would become the cornerstone of his notoriety, called This is the Last Dam Run of Likker I'll Ever Make. Released in 2008 and broadcast on 'CBS,' the documentary received a 'Southeast Emmy Award' in 2009. Interestingly, just a year after Sutton died, moonshining was legalized in the US. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. While Sutton made his career out of this illegal trade, his rise to massive fame didnt happen until he was about 60 years old. That's a big problem because now look where we're at. [23], A conventional grave marker was used at the head of Sutton's grave, reading "Marvin Popcorn Sutton / Ex-Moonshiner / October 5, 1946 / March 16, 2009". TULSA, Okla. (AP) Patsy Sutton, the matriarch of a family of college basketball coaches, has died in Oklahoma at age 74. [18][19] In January 2009, Sutton, who had used a public defender as his attorney in the case and had pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 18 months in a federal prison for illegally distilling spirits and possession of a firearm (a .38-caliber handgun) as a felon. Others view him as a criminal. Over the next few weeks, Sutton sold more than 100 additional gallons of moonshine each to two different men and showed another guy the barn where three working stills and 500 gallons of moonshine sat, ready to roll. His health was failing. JB and South Mountain Distilling Co. began making moonshine in late 2018. Did Popcorn ever have a wife? Pam Sutton, who became Sutton's fourth wife in 2007, said carbon monoxide may be the method but that's not what killed him. What finally brought him down, however, was a fire at his own home in April 2007 when a still exploded. The four-word epitaph sums up how he felt about his life, his death, and his legacy:Popcorn said fuck you.Show me more booze.Head over to the girl galleries. This led to yet another conviction on a number of charges. Pam creates handmade art glass and jewelry. Through it all, there was just one thing that guided him: his likker (as he liked to spell it). [40] The CEO of Popcorn Sutton Distilling is Megan Kvamme. "Those factors gave Marvin the strength to die the way he lived: according to his own wishes and no one else's," she stated. Aint nobody make it better than this, she cackles over a sip. The Distilled Spirits Council of the United States has released a report ranking the top moonshine states. Distractify is a registered trademark. While his standard moonshine tasted like sweet, buttery corn, his infusionspears, peaches, figs, black cherriescemented his greatness. Some speculated that Pam might have secretly moved the body. Editors Note: Many thanks to Sucker Punch Pictures for allowing us to use their incredible photos of Popcorn Sutton and his still for this article. [18] The judge noted that Sutton was still under probation in Tennessee at the time of the federal raid, and said that putting a man on probation again after being convicted five times of various crimes would not serve the community interest. On November 9, 2010, Hank Williams Jr. partnered with 'J&M Concepts LLC' and Pam Sutton to distill and distribute a whiskey brand titled 'Popcorn Sutton's Tennessee White Whiskey.'. So credit the federal government for my husband being dead, I really do," she said. He received the nickname of Popcorn after he attacked a faulty popcorn vending machine with a pool cue out of frustration. Though distilling moonshine is illegal, that doesn't stop the Discovery Channel from glorifying the concept in its docudrama series Moonshiners. The suit asked that all current existing bottles be taken off the market and that all profits from the sales of those bottles be handed over to Jack Daniel's. Pam Sutton is a much loved and valued member with the Inner West Police Area Command. This is one of the internets most popular searches about Sutton. "You might say he embodied a kind of Appalachian archetype, a character trait of fearlessness and fierce loyalty to regional identity even in the face of personal persecution and stereotyping," said Ted Olson, a regional writer and faculty member in East Tennessee State University's Department of Appalachian Studies. You can also show off your personality to your friends and family by tasting it in a different way than any other spirit. However, most believe it was either due to vandalism of the original site or a family dispute with his widow. Since his death, a new company and associated whiskey brand have been named after him. But this wasnt Santa Clausit was the towns most notorious outlaw, Popcorn Sutton, and he was passing out his annual present: a shiny silver dollar for each cop on the force.

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