 The movie depicts Juniors father as being arrested for producing  moonshine. In reality, it was Junior himself that was arrested and  sentenced. In 1956, federal tax agents found Johnson working at his  fathers moonshine still in Wilkes County; they arrested him. Many  local residents believed the raid was done in revenge for the  agents inability to catch Johnson delivering moonshine on local  highways; this is depicted in the movie when we see the local law  enforcement busting up his fathers still. Junior Johnson was  convicted of moon