Editing Newport, Tennessee (section)

===Moonshining and crime===
[[Appalachia]] is characterized by winding narrow coves and hidden hollows separated by high ridges. Many of these hollows contained just enough bottomland to support an economy based on [[subsistence agriculture]], but with each crop, the soil grew poorer and poorer. Thus, to make ends meet, farmers in communities such as [[Cosby, Tennessee|Cosby]] and [[Del Rio, Tennessee|Del Rio]] began setting aside some of their corn crop for liquor production. These early [[distilled beverage|distillers]] found an easy market in the taverns and saloons of Newport, itself located at a point where the Appalachian highlands meet the Tennessee Valley.

At the onset of [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] in 1920, the demand for illegally distilled liquor skyrocketed, and Cocke County was primed to meet it. Not only did the county have [[moonshine]]rs with generations of experience, but the remote Appalachian hollows and thick forest provided perfect hiding places for illegal [[still]]s. And as young men left the farms of rural Tennessee to seek employment in the textile mills of Knoxville and the large manufacturing hubs of the [[Midwest]] in the early 20th century, networks for moving the liquor from the mountain hollows to the large urban areas were already in place.<ref>Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration, ''Tennessee: A Guide to the State'' (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1986).</ref><ref>Rolfe Godshalk (editor), "Moonshining," ''Newport'' (Newport, Tennessee: Clifton Club, 1970).</ref>

From the 1920s through the 1960s, Cocke County became notorious throughout the Southeast as a moonshine hot spot. To complicate matters, large numbers of servicemen passing through Newport en route to Knoxville or [[Asheville, North Carolina|Asheville]] during [[World War II]] drew large numbers of [[prostitution|prostitutes]] to the area. In 1969, the ''[[Knoxville News Sentinel]]'' published a series of reports regarding [[organized crime]] in the county, and Governor [[Buford Ellington]] launched an investigation that led to the arrest of [[Constable#Tennessee|Constable]] D.C. Ramsey, Cocke County Sheriff Tom O'Dell, and several state troopers stationed in within the county on charges of [[extortion]] and [[bribery]]. In the following decade, a new [[district attorney]], Al Schmutzer, launched a crackdown on the various moonshining, [[gambling]], and [[cockfight]]ing rings within the county, with some success.<ref name="Timeline: Cocke County Confidential">J.J. Stambaugh, "[http://www.knoxnews.com/news/local-news/btimeline-bcocke-county-confidential Timeline: Cocke County Confidential]". ''The Knoxville News-Sentinel'', August 1, 2005.  Retrieved: August 13, 2015.</ref>

In spite of Schmutzer's efforts, Cocke County continued to struggle with organized crime. In 1982, 40,000 [[cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] plants were found growing just off Asheville Highway. The following year, Cocke County Sheriff Bobby Stinson was indicted along with 43 others on [[cocaine]] conspiracy charges. In 1987, 30 people from Cocke and Sevier County were arrested on charges relating to a [[car theft]] ring. Corruption probes and federal indictments relating to Cocke County law enforcement continued into the 21st century. In the 1990s, a series of economic initiatives by Newport and Cocke County, however, helped to curb the crime rate substantially.<ref name="Timeline: Cocke County Confidential"/>

In 2008, production for the [[CMT (U.S. TV channel)|CMT]] [[reality television]] program ''[[Outsiders Inn]]'' took place at the Christopher Place Resort in Newport.<ref>{{cite web|last=Bean |first=Kitty |url=https://www.usatoday.com/travel/hotels/2008-08-14-outsiders-inn_N.htm |title=The 'Outsiders' get in on the inn business |publisher=Usatoday.Com |date=August 14, 2008 |access-date=June 23, 2016}}</ref>

In 2009, the FBI indicted and successfully prosecuted a 23-person car theft and drug ring.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/knoxville/press-releases/2009/kx061609.htm |title=FBI — Cocke County Men Indicted for Racketeering |publisher=Fbi.gov |access-date=June 23, 2016}}</ref> Six persons entered guilty pleas by 2010, including a retired Newport police captain and his family.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/jan/29/guilty-pleas-in-car-theft-case/ |title=Guilty pleas in car theft case in Cocke County » Knoxville News Sentinel |website=www.knoxnews.com |access-date=February 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130127164130/http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/jan/29/guilty-pleas-in-car-theft-case/ |archive-date=January 27, 2013 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Eddie Hawk was sentenced to nine years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wate.com/global/story.asp?s=13162502 |title=Newport man sentenced to 9 years for role in car theft ring |access-date=December 2, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100918054211/http://www.wate.com/Global/story.asp?S=13162502 |archive-date=September 18, 2010 }}</ref> The investigation was branched from the FBI Rose Thorn case,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://newportplaintalk.com/story/13218 |title=The Newport Plain Talk - News Story - FBI agent says Rose Thorn continues |website=newportplaintalk.com |access-date=February 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120422033912/http://newportplaintalk.com/story/13218 |archive-date=April 22, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> which focused upon Cocke County Sheriff officers' corruption, resulting in an earlier 170 arrests on federal and state charges.