Franklin Co. man, 84, receives suspended sentence in moonshine case

ROCKY MOUNT — Thirteen years ago, Cecil Love was quoted in an Associated Press story about Franklin County’s long history of producing corn liquor outside of government control.

Love told the reporter he had made moonshine in the county for two decades before retiring. “It’s kind of like the tobacco farmers — once you get in it’s hard to get out of it because it’s profitable.”

Indeed, Love, now 84 and facing a felony indictment for illegal manufacture of alcohol, pleaded guilty Monday in Franklin County Circuit Court to misdemeanor possession of distilling apparatus without a permit.

Love had never been charged with “so much as a speeding ticket” before and received a Purple Heart during his military service, according to his attorney, B.J. Jefferson.

Love avoided any jail time when Judge William Alexander accepted the plea to the reduced charge and suspended a 12-month sentence on the condition that Love be on good behavior for two years.

“I will add, because of your good name in Franklin County, that this agreement is appropriate,” Alexander said.

Agents from the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control caught Love stirring a stainless steel pot of corn mash with a wooden stick in a dried creek bed in June, according to Franklin County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Patrick Nix.

Agents also found other distilling apparatus, including 55-gallon barrels filled with corn mash, coolers and propane tanks, Nix said.

Love admitted at the time that he was planning to make liquor and had been selling it to friends and family, Nix said.