Accused Pa. bootleggers with ‘legendary’ moonshine recipe busted by state police

A couple’s alleged 30-year bootlegging business in Centre County has been busted by Pennsylvania State Police Bureau of Liquor Control Enforcement officers after a year-long undercover investigation.

As WJAC-TV in Johnstown reports, the couple, identified as Glenn and Barbara McCleester of Port Matilda, allegedly told undercover liquor control enforcement investigators out to purchase the booze that their moonshine recipe had been passed down from “legendary moonshiner” and former NASCAR driver Junior Johnson.

The pair were illegally selling the shine for $60 per gallon jug, LCE investigators say.

The couple, ages 79 and 65 respectively, now face criminal charges for illegally producing and selling moonshine for the better part of three decades, according to court papers cited by WJAC.

The bootlegging bust was made after a nearly year-long undercover investigation that kicked off in April 2021 after the liquor control enforcement bureau said it received an anonymous online complaint saying the couple were “bootleggers,” WJAC reports.

An undercover BLCE officer made four separate purchases of the illegal moonshine from the couple, who bragged about the purity of their booze.

To demonstrate this, Barbara McCleester allegedly lit some of the shine on fire, showing the undercover officer that the flame burned blue, not orange, court documents cited by WJAC state.

The pair now face misdemeanor charges of unlawful sales of liquor and manufacturing and selling liquor without a license.

Preliminary arraignments in the case are set for Feb. 15.