Five stolen barrels of Wild Turkey bourbon recovered in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky., March 13 (UPI) -- Kentucky police said an anonymous tip led them to five stolen barrels of Wild Turkey bourbon at a home where they also found 25 guns and a stash of steroids.

Franklin County Sheriff Pat Melton said the Frankfort home of Gilbert Curtsinger, 45, was searched Wednesday after deputies received anonymous information from the "Text-A-Tip" line. Investigators discovered five barrels of Wild Turkey bourbon, 25 guns and a large amount of anabolic steroids in the home.

Melton said the barrels are believed to have been stolen from the Wild Turkey distillery in Lawrenceburg. He said each barrel was worth an estimated $3,500-$6,000.

"We have a lot of different cases that we work, and nothing seems to surprise me anymore, but five full whole barrels, straight from a distillery, yeah, that's a little surprising," Melton told WLKY-TV.

The sheriff's office said Wild Turkey is cooperating with the investigation.

"We will work in full cooperation with the Franklin County Sheriff's Office regarding their current investigation. We thank the authorities for their efforts on this case and have immediately begun our own internal investigation," Wild Turkey officials said in a statement.

Melton said Curtsinger works at the Buffalo Trace Distillery, where about $25,000 worth of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon was stolen in October 2013. He said detectives are looking into whether the cases are connected.

"We are working it. We're working and following every lead that we have and we'll continue to do so," Melton said.

Curtsinger was arrested and charged with receiving stolen property over $10,000, four counts of possession of controlled substance second degree -- firearm enhanced -- and possession of drug paraphernalia.