Marvin Sutton - Bootlegging and Moonshining Career

Bootlegging and Moonshining Career

Sutton had a long career making moonshine and bootlegging. Most of the time he was able to avoid law enforcement, although he was placed on probation in the 1970s and the 1990s. In 1999, Sutton published Me and My Likker, an autobiography and guide to moonshine production. Around the same time he produced a home video of the same title and released it on VHS tape. His first broadcast appearance was in Neal Hutcheson's documentary, Mountain Talk, in 2002. Sutton next appeared in the film that would become the cornerstone of his notoriety, This is the Last Dam Run of Likker I'll Ever Make. Filmed and released in 2002, the film quickly became a cult classic and over time drew the attention of television producers in Boston and New York. The source footage from this project was re-worked into the documentary The Last One that was released in 2008, which received a Southeast Emmy Award. Some of the documentary footage was later used in the 2011–2012 season of the Moonshiners television series produced by Discovery Channel. Sutton was also featured in the 2007 documentary, Hillbilly: The Real Story, on The History Channel.

Sutton considered moonshine production a legitimate part of his heritage, as he was Scots-Irish and descended from a long line of moonshiners. In January 2009, after an ATF raid led by Jim Cavanaugh of Waco fame, Sutton was sentenced to eighteen months in a federal prison for illegally distilling spirits and possession of a firearm as a felon. Sutton, 62 and recently diagnosed with cancer, pleaded with the U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer to let him serve his sentence under house arrest. Several petitions were made in attempts to reduce or commute Sutton's sentence, to no avail.