Willie Carter Sharpe was a rum runner in Virginia during the prohibition of alcohol.
Early life
editSharpe was raised in a small mountain town, gaining employment in a cotton mill during her childhood.[1]
Criminal career
editSharpe had been arrested 13 times between 1921 and 1932 for driving offences.[1] She began piloting bootleg runs in 1926; leading convoys of bootleggers transporting illicit spirits through Franklin County, Virginia,[2] as well as serving as a 'blocker'; hindering police attempts to intercept the convoys.[3]
Sharpe reportedly became one of the best-known rum runners in Virginia, having involvement in the movement of somewhere between 79,000 and 200,000 gallons of illicit liquor.[2][4] In 1932, Sharpe commenced a 3-year sentence in the Alderson Reformatory for Women for violations of the National Prohibition Act.[1][5]
Sharpe testified at a federal grand jury investigating illicit liquor smuggling in Franklin county in November 1934,[5] and in 1935 testified as a witness in the trials of 34 persons accused of illicit liquor offences.[1][2][6][7] Prior to the commencement of the trial, Sharpe was arrested in St Louis as a material witness.[8]
Following the 1935 trial, twenty of the accused were found guilty, three were acquitted, and eleven did not contest the allegations.[1][9] Sharpe's reliability as a witness was disputed during the trial.[10]
Samuel O. White, the federal agent whom arrested Sharpe and accepted a $50 reward for doing so, subsequently faced prosecution for accepting this gratuity.[11][12][13]
Personal life
editSharpe was married to Floyd Carter, the son of a bootlegger.[1] They were divorced in 1925.[2]
Sharpe achieved some notoriety for a diamond dental filling.[2][4][14]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f Joyce, Jaime (2014). Moonshine : a cultural history of America's infamous liquor. Minneapolis, MN. ISBN 978-1-62788-207-1. OCLC 880878520. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b c d e "Woman rum pilot tells experiences". The Bristol News Bulletin. 1935-05-24. p. 5. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ "Franklin's 'outlaw' heroin is caught in liquor ring net". The Times Dispatch. 1935-02-08. p. 11. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ a b "34 are indicted in Franklin County rum ring plot". The Times Dispatch. 1935-02-08. p. 11. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ a b "Probe liquor ring". Tampa Bay Times. 1934-11-22. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ "34 Indicted by U.S jury in Franklin rum ring". The Times Dispatch. 1935-02-08. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ "US pushed for 'knockout' in rum trial". The Times Dispatch. 1935-05-13. p. 18. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ "Fugitive witness permitted to start back in own auto". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. 1935-04-13. p. 3. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ "Lee and two others are acquitted as jury finds twenty defendants guilty". The News Leader. 1935-07-02. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ "Characters of federal witnesses subject attack". The Bristol News Bulletin. 1935-05-30. p. 10. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ "Federal Agent takes stand in own defense". The Times Dispatch. 1935-06-13. p. 12. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ "Former U.S. Agent defends actions". The Bristol Herald Courier. 1935-06-13. p. 9. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ "Court janitor's reputation is under hot fire". The Times Dispatch. 1935-06-25. p. 10. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.
- ^ "Rum trial prosecution may rest this week". The Times Dispatch. 1935-05-20. p. 13. Archived from the original on 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-02-13.