In Del Norte, the District Attorney has an interesting and personal perspective on the criminal justice system. He once served as a defense attorney, then as a defendant and inmate, and now as the District Attorney.
Years ago, Jon Alexander was a successful defense attorney, before he succumb to an addiction to methamphetamines, an addiction that led to a six-month sentence in jail. After serving his time, a stint in rehab, and serving a suspension from the state bar, Alexander returned to practicing law – this time as a prosecutor. After just six months, an investigation for ethics complaints led to his being fired from the prosecutor’s office and he opened his own private firm. He worked as a public defender.
Then, using a platform of “Death to Meth” he was elected to District Attorney. He has not, however, been able to avoid accusations and scandal. Many criticized his dismissing charges in a missing child case that involved a former client. The FBI is investigating him for fraud and bribery – stemming from $6,000 that he was lent from the local lawyer who was involved in the missing child case. He’s also been accused of trying to sell his former position as Public Defender in a scheme that some say is reminiscent of Rod Blagojevich.
The accusations of wrong doing continue to mount, and the DA says its due to embittered former opponents and colleagues.
From the Sacramento Bee:
On his redemptive journey from meth addict to district attorney, Jon Alexander carried one constant companion: a magnet for trouble.
After a methamphetamine habit nearly destroyed him, Alexander resurrected his career and devoted himself to helping other addicts recover. In 2010, running on a platform of “death to meth,” he surprised many in Del Norte County, a remote corner of northwest California – known for illicit drugs, salmon fishing and the feared Pelican Bay State Prison – by winning election as district attorney.
Read the full article here.
Missouri leds in meth lab incident seizures
The notion that Missouri is the methamphetamine epicenter of the world likely won’t be helped by the latest statistics from the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The numbers are in, and Missouri once again led the nation in the number of meth lab incident seizures. The MSHP logged 2,096 incidents (an increase of 6 percent from 1,960 in 2010), nearly double the next closest state of Tennessee, which had 1,134 incidents last year. Kansas had 172 incidents in 2011.
The key word is “seizures,” which are broken down into three categories when they’re entered in the National Clandestine Laboratory Seizure System: laboratories, chemical or equipment seizures, and dump sites. Thus, each of those incidents doesn’t necessarily correspond to an operational meth lab.
Former Pitch staffer David Martin looked at how hard it has been for Independence to shed its label as “Meth City USA,” in a cover story last October that delved into the history and reporting methods of methamphetamine busts in the city and state of Missouri. In the article, author Nick Reding suggested that the numbers in Missouri don’t tell the whole story:
“The word is out now that lab incidents do not equal a lab producing large amounts of meth,” Reding says. “It can be anything, from a kid who makes a quarter ounce of it — that’s considered a ‘lab,’ according to the police.”
While the size of the drug problem in Missouri is debatable, the reported figures are not. And by the current metrics, Missouri is still far and away outpacing the other states when it comes to meth busts.
Douglas’ Son Moved Pounds of Meth
The DEA claims Michael Douglas’ son Cameron is a big time crystal meth dealer — one who moved “pounds” of the drug since 2006.
According to his federal complaint filed in New York, DEA agents claim they ran a 3-year investigation, proving the 30-year-old actor sold “multiple pounds” of crystal meth to several people — many of whom are now cooperating in the prosecution of Douglas.
source…TMZ
Twelve Meth Labs In Allegan County
Officers with a Meth Task Force found 12 meth labs and arrested 12 people in a three-week effort to clamp down on increased drug activity, police said.
The task force handled 42 complaints during the period, finding two dumpsites for discarded meth waste and making a variety of other seizures: 27 guns, 26 pounds of marijuana, 16 marijuana plants and two ounces of meth.
Police also made 14 seizures of meth components and 10 fugitive arrests.
The task force was a combined effort using officers with the West Michigan Enforcement Team and Allegan County Sheriff’s Department. Police said it was formed to combat increased meth activity this year.
Meth Lab Explodes in Waveland
WAVELAND — Two people are in jail and eight families are homeless after a meth lab explosion Thursday night (7/30/2009) made portions of an apartment complex uninhabitable.
The incident occurred at Waveland Manor Apartments off Waveland Avenue when an apparent meth lab accident sent toxic fumes wafting into eight apartments. Anxious residents gathered outside, only to be told they must leave.
The explosion occurred about 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
“I was cooking dinner when two men in the complex came and told me I had to get out,” said Helen Sullivan, a resident of the complex. She, her husband and their two young children spent the night with relatives, then went to an emergency shelter that was opened Friday for the evacuated families.
Shortly before midnight Thursday, Waveland police booked a man and woman who were found at the complex after the explosion. Jonathan O’Neal Alexander, 32, and Mary Tarver, 30, were charged with manufacturing methamphetamine and held on $50,000 bond each.
Albert Biehl, assistant manager at Waveland Manor, said Alexander had relatives living at the complex and had previously been banned from the premises by the management.
“This is the first sign of drugs I’ve had here,” Biehl said. “This is a clean complex.”
Friday afternoon, the American Red Cross opened a shelter for the evacuated families at Lagniappe Church in Bay St. Louis. As the evacuees arrived in sweltering heat, they were signed in and greeted with cups of ice water.
“We’re expecting a maximum of 20 people,” said Raemona Seeman, director of development for the Red Cross’ Mississippi Gulf Coast Chapter.
The residents arrived mostly empty-handed, with only the clothes on their backs. Red Cross officials said even the clothes would be destroyed, for fear they may be contaminated by the noxious fumes emitted in the explosion.
Meth Lab Busted In Zeeland
As Shyenne Kirkwood watched police swarm her sister’s Zeeland residence, she wondered if someone had been killed.
“I thought, ‘Oh my God, I wonder if it’s a murder scene,’” said the 13-year-old, who has been staying at sister Britney Merriweather’s Centennial Street apartment for the past month. She continued to watch as officers put on masks and what Kirkwood described as “full white body suits.”
They went inside and came back out with the man Kirkwood said she knew to be the upstairs tenant in the two-apartment home.
“They patted him down and put him in handcuffs,” she said.
Last Thursday 7/23/2009, police arrested a 46-year-old man around 10:30 a.m. at 19 1/2 N. Centennial St.
The man was taken into custody after West Michigan Enforcement Team officers raided his upper-level apartment, Sgt. Mike Anderson of WEMET said.
The apartment is separate from the lower-level residence where Merriweather, 23, and her two children live, but is in the same home. Merriweather is expecting another child in September. In addition, her mother, Darcie, came to stay with her about a month ago, bringing Kirkwood and another daughter.
When police entered the suspect’s apartment last Thursday morning, they found four people preparing to make a batch of methamphetamine through the “one-pot” or “shake ‘n bake” method.
“They were probably one chemical away from having the reaction start,” Anderson said.
The “one-pot” or “shake ‘n bake” method allows meth cooks to concoct the substance in one, portable container, making it easy to discard afterward.
Police are seeking warrants for the three other people who were in the home, while the apprehended suspect could face charges for manufacturing methamphetamine, operating/maintaining a meth lab and a parole violation. He has prior methamphetamine convictions in Allegan County, Anderson said.
Anderson said it appeared the four people making meth tried to seal off the upper apartment by placing garbage bags over air vents.
In addition to the meth-making materials, the drug team seized less than a gram of meth from the apartment. Merriweather told police she hadn’t noticed any suspicious activity or smells coming from upstairs.
Anderson said police found evidence meth had been cooked there the previous day. He said the four individuals could have been cooking meth at the location for a month or longer, based on pseudoephedrine purchase logs from area stores that investigators used to track the suspects.
Kirkwood said she’s still shocked to consider that she or any of the other young children in the home could’ve been hurt or killed while meth was cooking upstairs.
Toxic gas leaks, fires and explosions can result from meth production.
“Just to think the whole time that the house could’ve exploded,” Kirkwood said. “Knowing it could’ve blown up at any minute is so scary.”
She continues to worry about the health of her sister’s unborn baby. On Thursday, Merriweather was in the hospital being treated for pneumonia, her sister said.
When Merriweather told her doctor of the meth bust, the doctor warned her that a baby born with traces of the drug in its bloodstream could be taken away from her, Kirkwood said.
“My sister said she would never forgive the guy upstairs if that happened,” she said.
Meth Lab Bust in Eagle Twp
EAGLE TWP — A traffic stop in Eagle Township led to the discovery of a mobile meth lab late Wednesday 7/29/2009, according to the Clinton County Sheriff’s Office.
At about 11:20 p.m. a Clinton County sheriff’s deputy conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle on State Road near Jones Road, according to a news release from the sheriff’s office.
The driver, a 44-year-old Dimondale resident, was arrested for an outstanding warrant and for driving with a suspended license, according to officials.
Further investigation revealed methamphetamine and components to manufacture methamphetamine, the sheriff’s office is reporting.
The driver currently is being held at the Clinton County Jail, according to officials.
It was not stated why he was pulled over?
Big Meth Lab Bust In Parish
WALKER, LA (WAFB) - Livingston Parish sheriff’s deputies say they made the biggest meth lab bust ever in the parish at a trailer home in Walker early Tuesday morning 7/28/2009.
The bust happened at a house on LA Hwy 447 north of LA Hwy 1019, about ten miles north of Walker. This is a very rural part of the parish.
Deputies arrested 3 men. The three are being held on a combined bond of over $7 million.
The exact amount of drugs or products that have been confiscated has not been released, but deputies estimate the trio was manufacturing about $20,000 worth of meth per month. Wearing protective gear, deputies say they found evidence of 39 meth labs.
Investigators say they found lots of plastic bottles, plenty of pill boxes, lithium, camp fuel, piping, and filters. They counted 71 boxes of cold medicine. They estimate each small box can crank out two grams of meth.
Deputies say the suspects were making meth using the “shake and bake” method. It involves putting fuel and fire in a container, such as a soda bottle, then applying pressure. This method is very dangerous because the bottle can easily explode.
Officials say this seizure will put a dent in the meth traffic taking place in the parish but they know others out there will be willing to step in to replace those arrested.
They also credit the public with this bust. Deputies say an anonymous tip is what led them to the home.
I destroy homes, I tear families apart, I take your children, and that’s just the start.
I’m more costly than diamonds, more precious than gold, The sorrow I bring is a sight to behold.
If you need me, remember I’m easily found, I live all around you in schools and in town.
I live with the rich, I live with the poor, I live down the street, or maybe next door.
I’m made in a lab, but not like you think, I can be made under the kitchen sink.
In your child’s closet, and even in the woods, If this scares you to death, well it certainly should.
I have many names, but there is one you know best, I’m sure you’ve heard of me, my name is crystal meth.
Read the rest…Meth Poems
