Moonshiners busted for making illegal brew in Sandy basement

By Janelle Stecklein

| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Feb 21 2013 10:32 am • Last Updated Feb 22 2013 03:55 pm

These men weren’t your stereotypical moonshiners.

There were no banjos or television contract to be had.

Sandy police said they discovered the illegal operation while serving a search warrant for narcotics. While they found methamphetamine, they also discovered the two male residents were manufacturing hard liquor in the basement of a home on South Trail Ridge (2120 East), said Sandy police Sgt. Jon Arnold on Thursday.

The operation was complete with a still that fed into a jug, police said. The jug was then emptied into a keg upstairs.

Authorities joked that Tuesday’s bust probably marked the first still that’s been confiscated in Utah since prohibition was lifted in the 1930s.

Police said the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control was looking at filing charges against the men because both federal and state law requires a license to make hard liquor.

It is, however, legal for an individual over 21 to manufacture up to 100 gallons of beer or wine a year in Utah without a license.

jstecklein@sltrib.com

Twitter @sltribjanelle

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