Thread: Immigrant bootlegging busts could be trend

Tenn. sheriff thinks immigrant bootlegging busts could be trend
TRAVIS LOLLER, Associated Press Writer
Originally published 01:12 p.m., February 16, 2008
Updated 01:12 p.m., February 16, 2008


Sheriff Esco Jarnagin thinks bootlegging is making a comeback in his eastern Tennessee county because of a concentration of illegal immigrants and a one-of-a-kind state law requiring everyone, no matter how old, be carded when buying a six-pack.

"You can't buy beer unless you've got ID," Jarnagin said. "Illegals don't have ID but it seems like a lot of them still drink, so they've got to either steal it or buy it from a bootlegger."

In September, Jarnagin and deputies raided a mobile home where the Hispanic residents were selling beer by the can without a permit. Inside they found a stock of beer — nearly three dozen 12-packs, three 30-packs and numerous loose cans.

The two caught running the operation pleaded guilty, getting $100 fines and probation.

"This guy did not have an inflated price. They were just furnishing a service," the sheriff said.

"I guess you could say he was running a store."

Bootlegging has a long history in Tennessee, where liquor was outlawed 10 years before Prohibition and it's still illegal to a buy a drink in the county that's home to Jack Daniel whiskey.

But hauling in hooch faded into state history once beer became widely available. Only Cocke County "kind of maintained its bootlegging heritage," said Terry Hill, special agent in charge of the Knoxville Alcoholic Beverage Commission office.

Now in Hamblen County, which borders Cocke, Jarnagin has his officers investigating what he suspects are other bootlegging operations. And authorities in the county seat, Morristown, made their own bootlegging bust in December, charging a Hispanic market owner with selling beer illegally.

Jarnagin has a hunch the incidents mean bootlegging is rebounding. While the ABC hasn't seen an uptick in state cases, Hill says the busts "have kind of opened our eyes up."

"We'll have to start checking into it. It might very well be (a trend)," Hill said.

Tennessee is the only state with a universal carding policy, according to Steve Schmidt at the National Alcohol Beverage Control Association. The law, which is meant to curb underage drinking, took effect in July and applies only to groceries and markets that sell six-packs.

Thanks to the state's convoluted liquors laws, outlets selling more potent alcoholic beverages like wine or whiskey don't have to card everyone. So drinkers who look obviously older than 21 still can buy booze without identification at liquor stores, bars or restaurants.

And cashiers selling beer are supposed to recognize any government-issued picture ID, even a foreign one, but immigrant advocates say that is not happening.

Yuri Cunza, president of the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said a friend visiting from Spain recently was told he couldn't purchase beer with his passport. Cunza blames the incident on xenophobia and inadequate training about valid IDs.

"Something (ID) that's not from here is also becoming associated with something that's not good," he said.

Jarron Springer, president of the Tennessee Grocers and Convenience Store Association, said beer retailers love the mandatory carding law because it takes the guess work out of asking for identification.

But some beer vendors in a Nashville neighborhood with a large immigrant population say the law has driven down beer sales.

"When we started asking for ID, a lot of (customers) disappeared," said Emad Saad, manager of Real Discount Tobacco.

Sales have been lower for about six months, he said, roughly the same period the law has been in effect.

Corona, for example, is the most popular beer among his Hispanic immigrant customers, he said.

"We used to buy four or five cases of Corona a week," Saad said. "Now we buy one case a week."

Saad isn't sure how much of the sales decrease to attribute to the universal carding law.

He's seen fewer Hispanic immigrants in the neighborhood since the sheriff's department stepped up checking inmates for immigration status. A weaker economy and higher tax on a pack of cigarettes also could be contributing to slumping beer sales, he said.

Nashville police say it isn't apparent that bootleggers are operating in the city. Spokeswoman Kristin Mumford said the department has not arrested anyone for bootlegging since the carding law took effect.

Other Tennessee sheriffs in counties with large immigrant populations also haven't noticed a bootlegging boom.

"We haven't heard of any cases whatsoever," Bedford County Sheriff Randall Boyce said.

He laughed and added, "They haven't thought of it here, probably — and they will soon, I bet."


http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/feb/1 ... -busts-co/

Bootlegging....what next!!



>>>>>>>>>>>"RED ALERT" 2/19<<<<<<<<<<<<
Utah...Needs calls now!!
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-104592.html
Utah and Indiana.... Call, e-mail campaign!!
http://www.alipac.us/ftopic-103479-days ... asc-0.html

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Quirks/...ver_beer/6880/

You ask what's next? How about your beer delivered by taxicab?