Two Burlington men have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in a methamphetamine operation, and a third will be sentenced next month, according to Coffey County Attorney Douglas P. Witteman.
The lab in question was the first found in the state to be using organic iodine to manufacture meth. The process has been seen in Arkansas and other states, but not before by Kansas law enforcement, Witteman said.
Odell M. Van Patten, 28, was sentenced by Coffey County District Judge Phillip M. Fromme to 86 months in prison, as a result of his August conviction for conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance, a Level 1 drug felony.
Fromme sentenced Bradley S. Fischer, 40, to 76 months for a conviction in September on aiding and abetting the manufacture of a controlled substance, also a Level 1 drug felony.
Both men were sentenced on Oct. 1.
A third man charged in the scheme, Dale R. Hall, 39, will be sentenced on Nov. 19 for his conviction last month on a charge of conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance. Hall was convicted in September.
Witteman said that the charges resulted from a cooperative effort with the Coffey County Sheriff’s department and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation in investigating and executing multiple search warrants in the cases.
Witteman also said that a manufacturing process new to this area — using organic iodine — was being utilized in the meth lab under investigation in the case.
“The Kansas Bureau of Investigation advised that although this manufacturing method is becoming common in certain states, such as Arkansas, this was the first organic iodine lab found in Kansas,” Witteman said in a news release. “Organic iodine is used as a livestock feeding supplement.”
Employees of farm supply stores throughout Coffey County noticed that “non-farm individuals” were buying significant quantities of organic iodine.
“Employees at those stores were not sure what was up,” Witteman said; “however, they knew something was not right so they called law enforcement.”
He said the case was an outstanding example of citizens and law enforcement working together to make communities safer.
“If something does not seem right, pick up the phone and make the call,” Witteman said.
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Posted by me (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 3:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Wish we could get all meth off the street!!!! how many times was organic iodine used in this story even where to buy it.Meth Heads know how to read maybe it should of just said a new process was being used in these meth labs.
Posted by giggles (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 4:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Meth heads will get the word on the street anyway new, or old ways of making their "product". The general public doesn't know what these methods are, but knowing them will help make them aware of suspicious activities.
It is far easier to inform the public of these new activities to get people to notice and prevent them from getting the materials needed than it is to prevent the meth makers from knowing how to make it.
Posted by me (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 4:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
giggles VERY good point!!!!
Posted by create (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 8:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
If these idiot meth users and producers would use half their energy and inventiveness doing legal things instead of making and selling drugs, what a delightful world we would have.
Posted by me (anonymous) on October 12, 2009 at 10:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
so very true create
Posted by solong (anonymous) on October 13, 2009 at 7:05 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Giggles has it right, the public being suspicious was the key factor in apprehending these criminals and their actions brought this thing down. Scum bags do pass this info around which brought it to Kansas in the first place.
Posted by create (anonymous) on October 13, 2009 at 7:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
You're absolutely right, solong. A good example is the recent arrest of terrorists from Denver who were gathering bomb-making materials. Thank goodness they were finally arrested in New York, but look how far it had to go first. When the Denver guy was buying huge amounts of peroxide from a beauty supply store, no one even questioned him. The people who worked there kept kidding him about having blonde girl friends, having no idea he was amassing chemicals for making a bomb. Thanks goodness the Feds were on top of it.
What about Terry Nichols here in Kansas -- Lost Springs was it?-- buying huge amounts of fertilizer. Just a little tiny farming town where no one would get suspicious because fertilizer purchases are so common. We know now that it all went to make that truck bomb for the Miurra Building in Oklahoma City.
We live in a far different society since then, which was even before 9-11. It's not just bombs and foreign terrorists we should be aware of, but we need to be vigilant in our own neighborhoods too where home-grown terrorism occurs in the form of drug-making and pushing. Yes, I consider that a terrorist activity because of what it does to our children and families. Start prosecuting these scum bags as terrorists who have no rights.
Yes, I'm angry.
Posted by me (anonymous) on October 13, 2009 at 8:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I totally agree meth has ruined alot of families and the children of these meth heads dont have a chance because meth takes ahold on some people and nothing eles matters to them except where they can find more its very sad!!!!!!
Posted by oh4theluvof (anonymous) on October 13, 2009 at 9:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
100% correct, create!! For a little over a year a meth dealer lived across the street from me and I can attest to being terrorized. When a bouncer answers the door to the customers and even beats up a couple of them in the side yard, you don't want to be seen in your own front yard. When the police answer a call to that house but invert the numbers and come to your house instead and you realize that if a rationally thinking police officer can make that mistake, how much more likely it is that some strung out and paranoid junkie will, you are afraid of every knock at the door. I was the only one in the neighborhood to figure it out because I simply observed abnormal traffic and activity patterns. As soon as I knew, so did the police!!! After that, I started visiting neighbors and telling them what was going on and asking for their help in reporting all activity to the police. It took some time and many reports for them to finally nail him down, but working together, we finally got rid of him. I no longer feel that terror and panic that had become normal to feel as I was coming down the street, getting closer to home.......and them.
Posted by create (anonymous) on October 14, 2009 at 10:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Oh4, I read your post and my eyes widened in recognition of the exact same thing that happened in my neighborhood ten years ago even down to the beatings, only in this case, they took place in the alley. That's what prompted me to build my privacy fence along my alley because these people lived across the alley from me.
I knew their activities weren't going to stop. That fence cost me 1500 bucks! Still it didn't protect me because once the police got involved and arrests were made, the girl who lived there blamed me for her boyfriend being arrested and sent to prison. She paid me back by tossing her baby's dirty diapers over the fence and into my vegetable garden. Along with the diapers, she tossed broken glass. Every day for months on end! Nasty SOB's.
But here's the rub. No one in my neiglhborhood really believed that drugs were being sold there. Were they blind? Afraid to get involved? Even the police kept telling me there wasn't enough probable cause for an arrest. I watched daily deals going down. Iowa Beef paydays brought huge business with people pulling up in vans left running while they ran in to buy, their babies sitting in carseats, silent witnesses. No one else recognized that to be what it was. I couldn't believe it.
Finally the police got involved when I reported that every single Friday, a black Mercedes with Kansas City tags parked up my street while someone got out and walked the block and a half to this house. It was like clockwork. What could it be but the money collector and resupplier?
I was so relieved when the dealer was arrested. His family finally moved away and the diapers stopped coming over the fence. I still work in my garden with leather gloves and find broken glass all the time.
The house was foreclosed upon and somebody bought it and flipped it. In the basement were found several large dog cages. Pitt Bulls? Who knows.
Ironically, at the time, there was a sign at the end of the block announcing Neighborhood Watch.
I'm glad you told your story. I thought I was alone. If this happened to you, and me too, how many others are going on even now while others look away?
Posted by seriouslyfolks (anonymous) on October 14, 2009 at 11:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Isn't meth illegal because the "religious" sect of our country just doesn't want us to have any fun?
Posted by oh4theluvof (anonymous) on October 14, 2009 at 3:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There's a lot, create....a LOT!!! That's why our small town and county have three drug enforcement officers between the two agencies and they are kept very busy. If every meth dealer was reported, we could keep twenty officers busy. After this experience and then a short time later learning how involved EDA was in that petty smoking ban, I refuse to support EDA in any way. There are way too many dealers and too many Emporians are simply not aware of drugs, after all.
For those who may be wondering, the meth is often cooked somewhere out in the county and the dealers drive out and get a new supply every night. Watch for cars that are muddy or dusty from country roads every morning but are taken to the car wash as soon as the owner gets up and around for the day. Shiny, expensive out of town cars like you described, create, are for other suppliers of other types. Just a little observation can go a long way. Never be afraid to report it and work with law enforcement or to pester them if they aren't taking you seriously. Good work, create!! Thank you for taking it seriously.
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