Sheriff deputies bust up an illegal winery at a town's sewage plant

A city employee of the town of Rainsville, north of Birmingham, is under suspension for allegedly making wine at the city’s sewage plant. The DeKalb County Sheriff's Office says it got an anonymous tip about an alcohol operation at a municipal building in the town of Rainsville on Thursday. Investigators then uncovered what's described as a large illegal winery inside the Rainsville Waste Water Treatment Plant. Photos released by detectives show glass containers, buckets, a fermenting rack, and other equipment commonly used to make wine at home. The agency says officers seized a collection of illegal alcohol and arrested an employee. Rainsville Mayor Rodger Lingerfelt said city worker Allen Stiefel has been suspended without pay. The fifteen year city veteran staffer faces a felony charge of use of official position for personal gain and a misdemeanor charge of unlawful possession of an illegally manufactured alcoholic beverage. Rainsville is a town of about five thousand people, and is one hundred miles northeast of Birmingham.