Anadarko Man Speaks Out After Moonshine Operation Bust

An Anadarko man in trouble for operating a moonshine still is speaking out.

Friday, August 23rd 2013, 6:39 pm

By: News 9


An Anadarko man in trouble for operating a moonshine still is speaking out.

The illegal act was done right within the city limits behind a plant where the man was working. The man confessed to police, and talked with News 9 today to clear the air.

Ryan Smith called us here at News 9 wanting to apologize. A tip led investigators to the moonshine still he admits to building behind a feed manufacturing plant. That's where Ryan worked until police found what he'd been cooking.

"You see shows on TV and you hear stories. I had my curiosities about it, and I did it," Smith said.

Smith says he's never made moonshine before, but it wasn't hard to learn how.

"Google and YouTube," Smith says. "Moonshine 101 is where I learned it."

He says he did his research on his lunch break working at a feed plant in Chickasha.

8/22/2013 Related Story: Chickasha Police Discover ‘Moonshine' Still In Wooded Area

"There would always be grain left over that I'd sweep back into the pit and at that time I took the grain from that area in a few buckets and took it out to the woods," Smith said.

Stealing that along with molasses, yeast, corn, and sugar from the plant, he had an operating still.

"It was about 30 minutes before quitting time," Smith says. "At that time, I ran up, I constructed it. I had everything laying there."

He made about two pints of moonshine, but the plant manager called police. Ryan says they were questioning other guys he worked with, so he came forward. Ryan had only worked at the livestock nutrition center for a couple of months, it was a temp to hire job. But after his moonshine still was discovered, the company let him go.

"I really hate it. I liked working there," Smith said.

More than anything, Ryan says he wants to apologize to his family.

"I've made decisions before, and they haven't really panned out, and this one wasn't very smart," Smith said.

Smith has not been arrested. News 9 is told charges are still pending. The ABLE commission tells us distilling is a felony. We know beer brewing and fermentation is legal, but you have to have a license. ABLE has taken down eight stills in our state this year.

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