Snapshot
April 17-23, 2007

In Ohio - A defense attorney claims her client could not possibly be guilty of running a Meth lab in his home that caused a fire.  She says the 33-year-old man was in jail at the time.  The August fire caused $60,000 worth of damage to the house. No people were injured, but two cats perished in the fire.  Firefighters found a number of items associated with Meth manufacturing and several marijuana plants growing in the basement.  Police had reportedly been suspicious about the man and the possibility of Meth being cooked in the house for a number of weeks before the fire.  The suspect was jailed for three days before the fire, on an unrelated charge.  The defense says that while there may have been a Meth lab in the home, the defendant could not be positively connected to it; instead, says the attorney, a friend of the defendant took advantage of the man’s confinement to conduct ‘science experiments’.   The friend, a 31-year-old man, has already pleaded guilty to charges in the case and is in prison, serving a three-year sentence. Both men have been convicted of drug crimes in the past.

In Nebraska - A disbarred lawyer sentenced to federal prison for his role in a Meth distribution ring is now a free man.  He had his sentence reduced to time served, or eight months, from his July sentencing of 41-months.  He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute.  His sentence was reduced because he offered assistance in investigating or prosecuting someone else.  He was one of six people rounded up as part of the conspiracy; he had represented two of the others in court. 

In Tennessee – Police arrested one person in a Meth lab bust in a hardware store parking lot.   An off duty officer shopping the store spotted a suspicious man checking out chemicals, and called for a detective.  An investigation turned up Meth making materials in the suspect’s pick up truck.

In Georgia – 17-people were arrested on Meth charges after investigations that started in September, and one officer says they have warrants for several more suspects.  Most of the people picked up in the sting were charged with criminal attempt to manufacture Meth for exorbitant purchases of pseudoephedrine.  Two were also charged with Meth possession.  

In Texas – A married couple has been sentenced to decades behind bars for their part of an organized Meth operation.  The 40-year-old husband received three 10-year sentences, one two-year sentence and an 18-year sentence for possessing, manufacturing and delivering Meth and engaging in organized criminal activity.  His 38-year-old wife received two 10-year sentences for a charge of Meth possession and engaging in organized crime.   Her sentence will be re-evaluated after serving fewer than 180 days.  According to the prosecution, the couple cooked Meth in their home in front of their two young children and exposed them to toxic chemicals.  They also invited others to cook Meth in their garage, kitchen and bathroom and went to others’ homes to help with other cooks. 

In Washington - A multi-agency drug task force arrested a 27-year-old man with nearly a half-pound of Meth as part of an ongoing investigation into Meth distribution.  The task force includes county sheriffs’ offices, city police departments, tribal police and university police. 

In Arizona –A 27-year-old man was arrested on charges of towing a portable Meth lab in a trailer.  A sheriff’s deputy pulled over the suspect, who was driving a van pulling the trailer with no license plate.  The deputy believed the man appeared high, so he administered field sobriety tests, which the suspect failed.  He was arrested and officers searched his van and trailer.  In the van, they found a piece of tin foil with burned Meth residue. On the ground under the van, they found a balloon containing several small bundles of processed Meth, and when they opened the door of the trailer, the deputies found Meth lab equipment. 

In Indiana - A 35-year-old woman was arrested after police stopped the car she was driving and found what they believe to be Meth and marijuana.  A police dog alerted officers to the presence of drugs, and a search turned up 9.7 grams of suspected Meth on driver and another 1.7 grams in the car, along with suspected marijuana. 

April 21 & 22, 2007
April 20, 2007
April 19, 2007
April 18, 2007
April 17, 2007

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