Snap 10-13-07

Methamphetamine Awareness and Prevention Project of South Dakota

METH Awareness And Prevention Project of South Dakota

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Oct. 13, 2007

In Oregon - A Meth addict who left his two toddlers in a parked car in a stranger's driveway was sentenced to five years in prison. The 35-year-old father was sentenced on charges including criminal mistreatment, identity theft and burglary. Last July, the defendant parked his car in a driveway with his two young sons asleep in the back, the keys in the ignition and the windows down. Police responded to a call from the owners of the driveway and found the suspect in a garage that he had broken into. The boys and their infant sister are together in a foster home.

In Minnesota - A 42-year-old man was sentenced to 60 days of electronic-home monitoring and 100-hours of community service after pleading guilty to a felony count of third-degree drug crime. He was accused of selling Meth to a police informant. The judge gave him a stay of imposition for 20-years in prison, which he would be ordered to serve if he violates his supervised probation.

In Montana – Two brothers, 29- and 27-yeasr-old, pleaded guilty in federal court to a Meth distribution conspiracy. The older brother received 15- to 20-pounds of Meth from a supplier and sold it to his brother and other dealers. The two are the first of seven people indicted to plead guilty. They will be sentenced in January.

In Alabama - Police stopped the driver of a pickup truck for failing to use a turn signal and ended up finding $600 worth of Meth in the truck. Two men, 47- and 46-years-old, were arrested after a drug dog alerted police to the presence of narcotics. They are both charged with Meth possession. In another case, police are searching for a 38-year-old man after they found a Meth lab in his home.

In Montana -A 34-year-old man who let an old friend use his house to store Meth was sentenced to four-years, three-months in federal prison. He originally faced ten-years behind bars, but the judge found that he played a minor role in the distribution conspiracy and lowered the time. The defendant was one of four people indicted on 33 counts in a ring that brought Meth to Montana from California. He admitted that he let an old friend store drugs at his house, but didn’t use Meth himself and didn't know the quantities being kept at his home. The friend, who was convicted of dealing Meth, told investigators he paid $500 a week to store Meth in the home. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison.

In Michigan –Police and firefighters responded to a report of smoke coming from an apartment building discovered a potential Meth lab. One man, 33-years-old, is suspected of rigging a device to obtain electric power and causing a fire, along with running the lab. Officers seized a white powdery substance, baggies and an electronic weight scale and arrested the man on four felony charges, including possession of Meth with intent to deliver and manufacturing Meth within 500-feet of a middle school.

In Louisiana - A husband and wife were arrested on charges of operating a Meth lab. Police stopped the 30-year-old man who was driving under suspension. They noticed a propane tank, batteries, jars and other Meth-making equipment in his pickup truck. When they did a further search they found a hydrochloric generator - a gas tank filled with anhydrous ammonia. The man gave officers permission to check out a hotel room he was sharing with his 28-year-old wife, where the officers found Meth needles, marijuana and pills. The couple then allowed officers to search their trailer home, and the police found numerous boxes of Ephedrine and jars of an unknown liquid. The man and woman both face numerous Meth-related charges.

In Oklahoma – More than 40 federal agents worked with local police in a raid on a suspected Meth lab. Two men – 44- and 38-years-old - were arrested; one was caught after crashing his car into a fence in an escape attempt. The two were involved with an active lab when officers made their move. Officials seized 12-pounds of liquid Meth and at least 11 firearms during the raid. They also found lots of illegally stored anhydrous tanks and chemicals on the property – all within access to a child living there. The elementary school-aged child was placed into protective custody.

In New Mexico – Federal agents and officers from a sheriff's department executed a search warrant at a trailer home and found evidence of Meth smuggling. Two men, 31- and 30-years-old, and a 23-year-old woman were in the home when officers arrived. Agents found about two-ounces of Meth, a small quantity of psilocybin mushrooms, and a number of items associated with Meth trafficking.