A Famous 1935 Case Involved Corrupt Officials, Glamorous Conspirators And
Murder

BOOTLEGGING CASE SHOWS THE SUN MAY BE SETTING ON MOONSHINE TRADE

In 1935, authorities estimated nine out of 10 Franklin County
residents were connected somehow to moonshine; now, law enforcement
authorities argue that far fewer families are involved in the trade.

By JEN McCAFFERY
THE ROANOKE TIMES

Moonshine conspiracy trials just aren't what they used to be.

Spectators packed Roanoke's federal courtroom in 1935 to see raven-haired
bootlegger Willie Carter Sharpe, a primary government witness fresh from
serving three years for running an untaxed liquor caravan.

Sharpe admitted being "rather close friends" with Jeff Richards, a
sheriff's deputy who was shot dead on the eve of the grand jury proceedings
that led to the trial. Sharpe testified that before Richards' death, he
showed her $825 that he told her he'd collected from assorted distillers.
It was to be divided between then-Commonwealth's Attorney Charles Carter
Lee and a former Franklin County revenue agent, Edgar Beckett, Sharpe
testified.

In contrast, the trial of seven defendants that starts Monday, resulting
from a recent federal crackdown on moonshine called Operation Lightning
Strike, promises to be low on intrigue. Instead of high-ranking law
enforcement officials and glamorous bootleggers, the defendants are all
connected with Ralph Hale Sr., a Ferrum farmer.

If previous Operation Lightning Strike court proceedings are any
indication, the trial will involve weeks of the orderly dissection of phone
records, journal entries, land deeds and rebuttal of same by defense attorneys.

Where once caravans of Cadillacs and Packards ferried gallon cans of
moonshine to Roanoke, Lynchburg and West Virginia - where other bootleggers
took them up the East Coast - now Ford and Chevy trucks carry plastic jugs
up the interstate.

Though the cases bear several striking similarities and reveal that 66
years later, federal authorities are still trying to stanch the flow of
illegal liquor from Franklin County, the differences in the cases also
reveal the changes in the moonshine pipeline over the last two-thirds of
the 20th century.

At 50 days, the 1935 trial will not likely be trumped in length by the
Operation Lightning Strike trial, which may go longer than its scheduled
three weeks.

In 1935, federal prosecutors cast their net around 34 defendants - the
"political and bootlegging elite of Franklin County," according to retired
Rocky Mount lawyer Keister Greer, who is working on a book about the trial
tentatively titled "Conspiracy: The Trial of Charles Carter Lee." Those
indicted included Lee, who was then the commonwealth's attorney, two
sheriff's deputies and 31 others.

Operation Lightning Strike similarly yielded charges against many
defendants - 28 people. But this time, none of the defendants was a
high-ranking law enforcement official. In both cases, many of the
defendants - most in the case of Operation Lightning Strike - pleaded
guilty before trial.

Greer, who supplied much of the information about the 1935 trial for this
article but declined to comment on the Operation Lightning Strike trial,
argued however that "what happened in 1935 was infinitely larger in every
sense."

The differences in the trials reflect the slow wane of the illegal liquor
trade. In 1935, nine out of 10 Franklin County residents were connected
somehow to moonshine, Greer said. Now, law enforcement authorities argue
that far fewer families are involved in the trade.

The money involved in the cases also shows the decline of the trade over
the years. The federal prosecutor argued in 1935 that the conspirators were
responsible for 25 million gallons of moonshine transported out of Franklin
County, a tax loss of $5.5 million over six years, from 1928 to 1934.
Adjusted for inflation, that amount is equal to $68.4 million in the year
2000, the last year for which the adjuster was available.

By contrast, federal authorities have argued that the recent moonshine
conspiracy yielded an estimated 1.4 million gallons of untaxed liquor from
1992 to 1999, a tax loss of $19.6 million.