Snapshot
Aug. 2-8, 2007

In Pennsylvania - A federal grand jury indicted 15 people in connection with a conspiracy to distribute more than 100 pounds of Meth. The alleged ringleaders developed a trafficking network that authorities say brought large quantities of Meth to the east coast from Las Vegas and California, at times transporting the drugs in tractor-trailers.  Federal agents busted the drug ring in 2006, when two of the leaders were arrested at their homes, and authorities seized 11 pounds of Meth and $228,500 from the men.  A third alleged kingpin was arrested a month later at Philadelphia International Airport as he waited to board a flight to Las Vegas with $22,546 in alleged drug proceeds.  All three were originally charged in two separate indictments last year and they each pleaded not guilty to the original charges.  One man was convicted of a drug-conspiracy charge following a trial, and faces a guideline-range sentence of 19 to 24 years.  If convicted on all charges, one of the two remaining leaders faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10-years in prison; the other faces a 20-year minimum sentence.  The government is also requesting that more than $290,000 in alleged drug proceeds seized by authorities, two of the men’s residences and two tractor-trailers forfeited.

In Massachusetts - A trash collector picked up a bag in front of a home and threw it in the back of the garbage truck. It burst into flames almost immediately.  Department of Public Works employees had extinguished the fire by the time firefighters arrived.  Fire officials became suspicious of what they found – items that pointed to the possibility of a Meth lab - and called the police.  The local police called for assistance from the state police and the DEA.   Officers obtained and executed a search warrant for the home where the garbage bag came from, and arrested the 34-year-old man who lived there.  He is charged with Meth manufacturing and the illegal possession of OxyContin.  He lives in the home with his wife and four children.

In Illinois – A 29-year-old woman pleaded guilty to possessing 15.4 grams of pseudoephedrine and was sentenced to five years in prison.  She was also ordered to pay a $1,540 street value fine, a mandatory $2,000 drug assessment fee, a $100 laboratory fee and a $200 fee to have her DNA indexed by the state police. She was the last of four people arrested in March when officers served a narcotics search warrant at a home and found a Meth lab in the basement.  Police seized 1,157.1 grams of liquid Meth in the raid.  Of the other defendants, a 21-year old man pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possessing a large quantity of Meth and was sentenced to 12 years in prison; a 26-year-old man pleaded guilty to a felony charge of participation in Meth manufacturing and was sentenced to nine years in prison and a 33-year-old woman pleaded guilty to a felony charge of aggravated possession of anhydrous ammonia with intent to manufacture Meth. She was sentenced to six years in prison. 

August 7, 2007
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