https://www.stlbeacon.org/#!/content/29958/encore_tebeau_jgb_032013 This was the original article I came across that kind of tweaked my interest. It was written prior to him being sentenced and speaks to his point of view a little more. I have no idea what the festival itself was like, so I don't have a fully informed opinion but Gratefulfest is definitely the immediate comparison that came to mind. There has been a lot of controversy in recent years about that festival due to apparent pressure that the owner was facing from local law enforcement to clamp down on any illicit activity. I haven't been there in a few years so I don't know what its like now, but to me it was far from sketchy. It was a beautiful venue, one that I brought my eight month old son to. Beautiful place to swim, kind people, great music, rootsy (relatively) small feel to it, awesome vendors. Certainly there were drugs around but I don't recall ever seeing anything alarming or threatening myself. I remember there seemed to be an unspoken rule about there being no pot down on the beach where kids were swimming, etc. I do also recall there being signs about no crack, meth, hard stuff, etc. which was the first time I ever saw "selective" drug warnings as part of a festival. In years since I have been I have heard about some significant shake-downs and arrests that occurred which turned some people away and resulted in the owner receiving a lot of flack for it as well. If the two festivals are indeed similar than to me its a huge injustice that this man, with a young family that simply wanted to share music and good times with others and of course make a living while doing so, is serving hard time while corporate and violent criminals have a hay day.