Troubleshooters: Indiana BBQ smoker business owner arrested after leaving customers feeling burnt

UPDATE: 3:24 pm The Jefferson County Sheriff’s office arrested Southern Smokers owner Jeffery Briscoe on May 8th. Briscoe is charged with ten counts of theft and one count of corrupt business influence.

He is currently being held in the Jefferson County, Indiana Jail with a bond set at $250,000. Briscoe will appear in court for his initial appearance on Friday May 9.

The probable cause affidavit filed with the court shows the sheriff’s office opened its investigation around the same time as the WAVE troubleshooters.

The allegations in the probable cause affidavit match WAVE’s reporting.

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A secret to making good barbecue is patience and time, but customers of an Indiana barbecue smoker company said their patience is burnt up after waiting months or years for smoker trailers.

Zach Utley of Utley’s Blowing Smoke brought out a box from his garage to his smoker trailer.

“So this is supposed to be my stainless steel sink table. It’s in the box, not hooked up to the trailer,” said Utley.

He’s not happy with his purchase from Southern Smokers, pointing out to WAVE all that was missing.

“This was not supposed to be empty, this was supposed to have a flat top grill,” said Utley.

He said the trailer is missing half of what his $10,000 paid for.

“I’ve never had a smoker without thermometers, there’s no thermometers on the door,” said Utley.

Why’d he drive away with it? Because he’s been waiting for more than a year.

“I’m not just going to set back and let somebody have $10,000 and I get nothing,” said Utley.

Jillian and Aaron Miller run Clean Bone BBQ in Fort Wayne, Ind.

“This was heartbreaking,” said Jillian.

“This was the first time we trusted someone else to do something for us,” said Aaron.

They were relying on their smoker trailer to advance their business. They said Southern Smokers made excuses instead of their $9,000 trailer they ordered June last year.

“His father was in the hospital. I think his first excuse was no electricity at the shop, and then it was his father in hospital and then his father had passed away,” said the Millers.

Brian Bellamy of Bellamy Xterior Xperts in Paducah told WAVE a similar story.

“He just stopped answering me. I would call him, I just need an update man,” said Bellamy.

He paid $5,000 for an aluminum flatbed trailer. Nothing complicated. He said Southern Smokers promised it would be done in a week back in January. It never was.

“We’re making do, but I had a lot of really large important jobs coming up that I was relying on this trailer,” said Bellamy.

Bill Moore wanted a trailer to haul his classic car.

“I kept trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I didn’t want to go through the court system or do all this,” said Moore.

He said Southern Smokers left him stranded, just like his ‘53 Chevrolet the trailer was meant to haul.

“It kept running out of gas. I think there’s something wrong with the carburetor. That’s what I’m working on now,” said Moore.

He finally told Southern Smokers he wanted his money back. Out of the $2,900 he paid, he got $2,500 back.

Some customers did get completed projects, just way past their due dates.

“‘Hey what happened with your trailer?’ ‘I got scammed.’ And they were like ‘no way not you,’” said Craig Evans explaining how his friends learned of his experience.

He also ordered a flatbed aluminum trailer to haul a tractor halfway across the country. It was supposed to be ready by the end of February. When it wasn’t, he began to call.

“Where’s my trailer or where’s my money, and then the games began,” said Evans.

He found a Facebook group full of people who’ve paid Southern Smokers, and can’t get answers. He joined, and several in the group told him they have complained to police. Evans did get his trailer on April 25.

WAVE visited Southern Smokers in Nabb, Ind. The owner, Jeffery Briscoe, came out to see who we were, but then wouldn’t come to the fence to answer any questions. Then a man in a van wearing a Southern Smokers hat said WAVE was trespassing and asked us to leave.

On Southern Smokers’ Facebook page there were posts showing welding, pressing metal going on, as well as finished projects that we saw parked out front. Utley was recorded driving off with his half finished smoker trailer on April 20.

But what Briscoe hasn’t told customers is that he had another company in 2021 called Backyard Pits. He didn’t finish making smokers then either. He was convicted of felony theft. Twice. State Police arrested him for taking money from 15 people, $33,000 in total, and not providing refunds or smokers.

He pleaded guilty and was given probation instead of prison as part of his plea agreements. Twice.

We also found Briscoe served prison time in Wisconsin in 2017 after being convicted of theft by contractor. He took money upfront to do a siding job, but never did the work.

Briscoe tells his customers he’s just one man and is working to get orders out the door. But the other times WAVE showed up to the shop, no one was there.

“At what point does Indiana say yes this is a felony, and yes we’re going to prosecute,” asked Evans.

“He obviously builds. Does he put all the names on the board and throw a dart at who he’s going to be legitimate with,” asked Aaron Miller.

“I think he should go to jail,” said Bellamy.

The Clark County Courts administrator said Briscoe paid $1,400 back to one person, half of the $3,800 he owed. But the administrator said he couldn’t find any other record of Briscoe making any other restitution payments.

His plea agreements showed he owed $35,000.

Briscoe has been sued in small claims court several times now as Southern Smokers, but those cases have not been resolved.

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