Were Digger Manes & Mark Ramsey From Moonshiners Arrested Again?

liquor distillers digger mains and mark ramsay gained both fame and notoriety from being part of discovery channel's controversial reality television series moonshiners over the years they're producing an illegal alcoholic beverage known as moonshine and it would only be a matter of time before they were caught by the authorities however although rumors of them being arrested would come and go viewers have yet to see or even hear of an actual arrest warrant served on them or them just even getting a slap on the wrist the bigger question was why these two business partners and friends continue to incriminate themselves on tv while engaging in apparently illegal activities before they joined any television series eric digger mains and mark ramsay were just regular joes with regular jobs however they both shared the same hobby which was making liquor specifically moonshine here are some interesting facts about the two moonshiners digger grew up in the tiny town of smoky mountain in newport tennessee when he was about 14 years old he reached out to a friend's father who was a stills builder and asked to be taught how to make liquors amused by his interest the man told him to come back when he was no longer a minor and to ask his father's permission first to be allowed to hang around with someone like him back then digger said that liquor making was seen as immoral and no good man would have allowed their case to be involved with people who did that for a living he was given permission by his father when he reached his 18th birthday so he went back to the old still builder and learned the technique digger said that his father probably thought he wouldn't stick with it at that time he worked at his family's funeral parlor as a licensed embalmer however by night he was moonshining not to earn more money but because he had great admiration for the old folks in his town who made liquor digger was simply fascinated with the whole process of making moonshine earning extra money was good but it wasn't what lured him in fact he said that most moonshiners were known as reliable pillars of their small community digger next met one of the most popular moonshiners in history marvin popcorn sudden most people even those from discovery channel thought that popcorn meant her digger to make moonshine but the reality was that it was digger who assisted popcorn when the latter built his first 500 gallon still about 1800 liters he said that the working relationship was about sharing information on how to make moonshine efficiently and was an equal partnership between friends which produced great tasting moonshine for about two decades the partnership only stopped working when digger walked away from all of it at that time popcorn was hell bent on flaunting what they did for a living and it became dangerous digger said he wanted to raise his kids without worrying about the authorities knocking on his door he had fun but said it was time to be mature about life and avoid the possibility of jail time true enough popcorn was subsequently convicted of serious offences associated with moonshining as well as illegal possession of a firearm he might have become a legend with many documentaries centered on him but he's no longer around to enjoy such a possibility in 2009 he committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning apparently to avoid federal jail time certainly a sad ending to an interesting life mark ramsey came from the forested area of east tennessee where he learned the art of moonshining at an early age from local whiskey distilling experts in town he started building stills when he worked on the legendary moonshiner popcorn making different types of stills needed a lot of patience but he learned from the best so his creations were second to none over the years mark earned the title of the king of tinkering as he developed a reputation for building one-of-a-kind stills he used combined techniques he learned while growing up from experts in the east tennessee mountains whose methods were handed down through generations mcgill entertainment one of the biggest independently owned non-scripted tv production companies chronicled the lives of the people behind the art and business of moonshining in the reality tv show simply called moonshiners moonshine was a term used in the past to describe high proof liquor that was made without government authorization and was distilled at night under the moonlight to avoid being caught hence the word moonshine however these days some legal distillers used the word to label some of the liquor products the tv show premiered on the 6th of december 2011 and as with many reality tv series has raised many questions about its authenticity it was supposed to be about individuals who went deep into the woods of appalachia define the law rivals and nature itself to keep the centuries-old tradition of craft whiskey alive the cast developed great techniques to avoid the authorities so nobody was convicted of illegal activities but others accused the donkey series of being scripted and staged when mcgill entertainment was looking for legit moonshiners it was mark who was quite interested in joining digger was hesitant to be part of the new show but his best friend convinced him agreeing at that time only because he initially thought the tv series wouldn't last more than a few programs at the most a season the executive producers told them that the show was on the verge of being cancelled as the ratings dwindled after the novelty about moonshining wore off they told digger and mark that they were trying to ramp up the interest again by engaging the two of them who were known legitimate associates of popcorn the duo became part of moonshiners during the fourth season and viewership numbers immediately increased when the fifth season was aired it was reported the ratings went up again and they were back on top it was the sixth episode of the fourth season of moonshiners that the viewers first saw digger and mark they were fixing a damaged 200 gallon or about 700 liter tennessee made old copper steel the narration in the background said that while they were friends for about 35 years they hadn't brewed anything together for the last 10 years they said that the poor quality they saw on the store shelves was enough reason for them to do something about it mark convinced digger not only to fix the still but to actually make moonshine again digger was on board only as long as his wife didn't know about it by the eighth episode they were back in business with a new brew of moonshine after 15 years of being on the straight and narrow path mark and digger knew all the tricks to avoid the authorities when hauling and distributing 150 gallons about 500 liters of moonshine diggers said they had always been cautious and used decoy cars so it couldn't be traced back to them in season 5 digger bought a funeral hearse and mark was quite surprised about this but didn't want to ride inside it initially as he felt that he would ride in it for genuine purposes soon enough however he knew that it was the perfect way to fly under the radar and it had lots of cargo room it hard back to the day when the mafia would stage a field position with coffins stacked to the hill with booze and they only stopped using it when they were busted by the police apparently the police noticed that the mourners would go home in high spirits definitely a pun halfway through their goal of making and distributing 900 gallons over 3 000 liters of moonshine in the sixth season they sold 60 gallons or over 200 liters of premium gin to a high roller when mark and digger were on their way to meet the client through the liquor broker and comedian killer bees they became apprehensive especially when they entered an affluent area in the city and then saw three cameras while entering the driveway of the estate they realized they were out of their element but were surprised that the client was ed king the former guitarist of the legendary rock band leonard skynyrd he approved of the taste but was surprised at the cost of 500 per gallon so that would be about 30 thousand dollars in all he said he'd think about it because of the expense and mark apologized to him because he thought that it was already a done deal they told him that they would be in town for another day so he could think about it however they were still in the car driving from the house when he called to say he would take it all during the final episode of the seventh season digger and mark were on the last day of delivery and chose the hearse as their vehicle the coffin was filled with moonshine worth five thousand dollars and the dynamic duo was in their formal wear posing as funeral employees however they were stopped by the police as they're running with expired tanks the policeman was curious as to why they're going to funeral at night but diggers said that they were just living a coffin to a funeral parlor they were told to put a sticker on their plate so that they could leave digger did that and they were let go then safely delivered the liquor and were paid without any further incident popcorn's widow pam sutton called mark and digger about something that had been bothering her for quite some time after her husband's death pam was referred to in the moonshine world as the moonshine queen mark said that she was like family to them and so they visited her to ask her about her problem she said that shortly after they married popcorn told her that he had a hidden stash of 60 gallons of moonshine that would easily be worth about 35 000 dollars and there was a huge demand for popcorn's legacy so the value could be much higher they based the value on the recent alcohol stash from the famous antarctic explorer sir ernest shackleton which was found buried under one of his cabins still encased in ice she said that if they found the stash she could comfortably retire but she couldn't trust just about anyone so she asked for mark and digger's help the moonshine duo told pam that they would try their best to look for it but it's unknown if they were successful during the eighth season mark and digger tried a new recipe by mixing their high-proof cherry vanilla moonshine with sipping cream mark said he wouldn't have done it previously as he wouldn't have been open-minded about mixing these kinds of flavors he further said that 20 years ago he would have escorted anyone to the door who requested that kind of moonshine however they needed to keep up with the times and develop something that would be appropriate to the new generation of liquor drinkers diggers said they had to do that to survive and that they should expect more changes in the next five years when popcorn's widow called them about the legendary moonshiner's hidden stash they both realized they had to make something that would be valuable in the future perhaps when they were already gone mark jokingly said that the future widows could blow the money they would get from it on their new man or worse a gigolo they had all the best ingredients as it would serve as their long-term investment however they had a difficult time connecting the tubes as they'd swollen due to constant use so they had to make adjustments right there and then to make it work again they said the good thing about their work was that they really liked each other so they didn't get easily annoyed if things didn't work out right the moonshine they made was about 53 gallons close to 200 liters and placed in oak barrels so it would be preserved for future use aging the bourbon to perfection for at least three years and that would make it even more valuable the baron would be their legacy to their wives children and grandchildren or could be used as a great retirement money for the two of them some rumors again surfaced that the two were arrested but it was proven false since there was never any record even once of the arrest for moonshining most of the fans believed that the rumors would now and then pop up because they were shown on tv engaging in illegal activities mark and digger said in the series that the moment you light up still you'd already broken law and it was for this reason that people found it ridiculous that not one member of the cast was arrested over the years in relation to the moonshine business some of them did spend some time in jail but for reasons unconnected with making the illegal liquor apparently the authorities needed to catch them in the act of making the moonshine otherwise there would be no evidence to prove that they made lick themselves so everything that the fans saw in moonshiners was filmed several months before it was aired on tv never on the spot back in 2012 the virginia department of alcoholic beverage control said that if there was an illegal activity going on the virginia bureau of law enforcement would have already taken action what they did back then was to ask the tv producers to place a disclaimer that it was just a dramatization but that request was ignored at the time although in recent seasons the producers did insert a disclaimer at the start of his episode to the effect anyone making moonshine risks life-threatening injury or time in prison do not attempt any of this at home also most of the moonshiners featured in the show were actually licensed distillers so there was no reason for them to be arrested in essence the show was in fact mostly just a dramatization historically making moonshine was considered illegal primarily because it became untaxed sales if those moonshiners had acquired the necessary permits and paid the right tax associated with the product they didn't break any law no one could be arrested with just the videos aired on tv as evidence for example mark and digger could easily swear there was only water in their stills besides chasing bootleggers these days is no longer a priority unless they started selling moonshine to miners otherwise it would be a waste of time for local authorities to rafter them with very little hope of success thank you for spending some time with us make sure to like and subscribe so you never miss another video we also hand pick these videos which we recommend you watch next you can talk to us on all social medias or ask a question in the comments below thank you for being with us and we'll see you back tomorrow

Channel: Celebrity Net Worth

Views: 361,971

Keywords: Moonshiners, Moonshiners tv show, Moonshiners cancelled, Moonshiners cast, Moonshiners host, where is Moonshiners filmed, what happened to Moonshiners

Id: J-2IBK5EeLo

Length: 13min 48sec (828 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 02 2022