The DeKalb County Sheriffâs Office on Thursday uncovered a large illegal winery at the Rainsville Wastewater Treatment Plant on Horton Road.
According to the sheriffâs office, they received an anonymous tip earlier that day concerning a possible illegal alcohol operation taking place in a Rainsville city building. Mayor Rodger Lingerfelt was contacted when agents and investigators arrived at the scene, and he allowed the officers to proceed with their search of the facility.
A large amount of illegal alcohol and a winery, which agents say appeared to be in operation for a long period of time, were discovered.
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A supervisor at Alabama’s Rainsville Wastewater Treatment Plant was suspended after using the facility as a wine-making operation, Huntsville, Ala., news station WAFF reports.
Acting on a tip that alcohol was being made at the plant, deputies visited the plant Thursday. An employee who has been with the treatment facility for 15 years was reportedly placed on paid leave after “a large amount of illegal wine” and tools used to make vino were found on premise. An investigation is ongoing.
Rainsville had been a dry town prior to an August vote to make booze legal in the nearly 5,000-person northeast Alabama town after a 2014 effort came up short. Investigators believe the wine-making operation had been functioning for quite a while.
Rainsville Mayor Roger Lingerfelt said Friday the supervisor of the wastewater treatment facility where DeKalb County investigators found an unlicensed winery Thursday has been suspended without pay, pending the outcome of the investigation.
According to the DeKalb County Sheriff s Office, Allen Maurice Stiefel, 62, of Fyffe, was arrested Friday and charged with unlawful possession of an illegally manufactured alcoholic beverage, which is a misdemeanor, and use of official position for personal gain, a Class B felony.
Lingerfelt said he did not expect any more suspensions, and he expressed shock at the discovery at the facility. He said believed the supervisor had worked there close to 15 years, and had been an excellent employee with no prior problems.
Huge, Illegal Winery Busted at Wastewater Facility in Alabama
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Normally, I m not the kind of guy to turn his nose up at homemade adult beverages. I don t mean you get a bartending book, now you make a mean Manhattan. I m talking about finding several jugs of juice with balloons on top in your grandpa s closet. That being said, there are lots of things I won t take a swig of.
Chiefly among the list of prohibited drinks I won t touch is homemade wine from a wastewater treatment facility. Just so you know, hooch like that absolutely exists - but thankfully most of it has been confiscated. A raid at Rainsville Wastewater Treatment Plant in DeKalb County Georgia on Thursday revealed a fully functional (and quite illegal) winery had been operation for some time right under everyone s noses. Officials from the raid also locked a large amount of illegal alcohol up as evidence, obviously fruits of the bootlegger s labor.
Rainsville mayor reacts to illegal wine making on city property
Plant supervisor arrested for illegal wine operation on city property By Kate Smith | December 18, 2020 at 6:08 PM CST - Updated December 18 at 6:50 PM
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) - The supervisor of the Rainsville Wastewater Treatment Plant, 62-year-old Allen Stiefel, is off the job and without pay following an illegal wine making operation inside the facility.
Hours later, he was arrested and charged with unlawful possession of an illegally manufactured alcoholic beverage, a misdemeanor and use of official position for personnel gain.
The mayor suspended the supervisor without pay effective immediately.
The mayor said Stiefel worked for the city for the last 15 years. He said the supervisor had a key to the facility, so it is unclear if this happened on or off the clock.