Whiskey still confiscated from downtown Prattville porch; charges pending against homeowner
PRATTVILLE — Surprised authorities confiscated a whiskey still from a downtown Prattville home Friday afternoon.
The Autauga County Sheriff's Office and Prattville Police Department worked the case, with assistance from agents of the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board. The ABC Board regulates liquor trade in the state.
Charges are pending against the homeowner, said Sheriff Joe Sedinger. The owner was not home when the still was confiscated and has been given the opportunity to turn himself in.
Since the homeowner has not yet been arrested, Sedinger did not release the address of the home. But, perhaps ironically, it's about two blocks from the courthouse, where the sheriff's office is, and about two blocks from the public safety building, where police headquarters is located.
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The still had been on the back porch of the home, and was spotted by a deputy who went to the home to deliver court papers, the sheriff said. It appeared the still had been on the porch for a long time.
It was not operating when it was seized, but a large container of mash was nearby.
The mash would be distilled to make alcohol. There were also several empty, plastic gallon milk jugs nearby, which Sedinger said were probably used to hold the illegal hooch.
Finding stills is not common, even in the sticks.
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"I think we have found three or four stills in all the time I've been with the sheriff's office," Sedinger said. He's been with the office more than 30 years, serving the past eight as sheriff. "All the other stills we found were out in the county, usually in thick cover where they couldn't be found easy."
The owner of the house will face a charge of illegal possession of a whiskey making device, Sedinger said. The charge is an unclassified felony, and code section doesn't list a punishment range.
Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Whiskey still confiscated from downtown Prattville porch
