Pubdate: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 Source: Fresno Bee, The (CA) Copyright: 2000 The Fresno Bee Contact: http://www.fresnobee.com/man/opinion/letters.html Website: http://www.fresnobee.com/ Forum: http://www.fresnobee.com/man/projects/webforums/opinion.html Author: Jerry Bier, The Fresno Bee CHEMICAL SUPPLIERS CONVICTED Three Could Face Life In Prison For Selling Meth Ingredients. A former college chemistry professor and two of his partners in a chemical-supply business were convicted Monday of conspiracy involving the sale of millions of dollars in chemicals and equipment to clandestine Central Valley methamphetamine manufacturers. The case was the largest prosecution ever of a supplier of chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine and signaled what the government termed an aggressive attack on the companies that provide the ingredients for the illegal drug. "The trial is emblematic of the commitment of the federal government to interrupt the supply of chemicals to the methamphetamine manufacturers, whether on the black market or through ostensibly legal businesses," said Assistant U.S. Attorney William A. Shipley, the lead prosecutor in the case. The federal court jury of six men and six women deliberated six days before convicting Terry Crandall Mincey, 52, the former majority owner of Custom Lab Supply Inc. in Oakland who was indicted in November 1997, along with Calvin Roberts, 36, another part-owner of Custom Lab, and Betty Lou Lewis, 51, a former bookkeeper for the business, of conspiracy and money-laundering charges. A fourth defendant, Richard Simonsen, was acquitted of all charges and threw his arms around famed San Francisco defense lawyer Tony Serra after the verdicts were read. Roberts and Mincey, who holds a doctorate degree in chemistry and once taught the subject as an assistant professor at the University of California at San Francisco, showed no reaction. Lewis buried her head in her arms on the counsel table as U.S. District Judge Robert E. Coyle thanked the jurors for their service and dismissed them. She then sobbed in her lawyer's arms. Coyle remanded all three, who had been out on bail, into custody and set Friday for a hearing to determine whether they should be released pending sentencing. Because of the seriousness of the charges, all three are facing a maximum of life in prison. Still to be determined is the amount of money to be forfeited by the company, and defense lawyers agreed that Coyle could hear the matter later rather than having the jury return. During the six-week trial, defense lawyers described the defendants as honest business people who recorded every dime they received and followed all government regulations. The original indictment returned by a federal grand jury three years ago also named Custom Lab as a defendant, but the government in February filed a civil action seeking millions of dollars in cash and other assets from the company and dropped it from the criminal case. The trial evidence revealed that between Nov. 1, 1994 and Nov. 1, 1997, Custom Lab sold more than $20 million worth of chemicals and equipment used by methamphetamine manufacturers throughout the state. Shipley said at the time of the indictment -- which was announced at a news conference in Sacramento -- that the Central Valley has become a major battlefield in the war on meth-trafficking organizations. The case involved some high-powered legal defense. Mincey was represented by Fresno lawyer E. Marshall Hodgkins; Roberts was represented by Fresno lawyer Anthony Capozzi; Lewis was represented by Ukiah lawyer Ann C. Moorman. Serra, who represented Simonsen, said after the jury's verdict that Simonsen worked in the warehouse as a forklift driver and had no knowledge of what was going on with regard to chemicals or cash. "He's a good man. He deserves his freedom," Serra said. "We appreciate the jury saw the truth." Custom Lab sold the drug manufacturers iodine, red phosphorous, hydrogen chloride gas, Freon and sodium hydroxide, along with the 22-liter flasks and heating mantles used to "cook" the drug. The only other chemical needed to manufacture methamphetamine is ephedrine or pseudoephedrine, an ingredient in over-the-counter cold medications. Shipley said that those chemicals comprised more than 85% of the total sales of Custom Lab during the three years in question. Buyers in the transactions at Custom Lab forked over currency, often tens of thousands of dollars per visit. On some of those occasions, the buyer was a member of a drug task force who pretended to speak no English and purchased the chemicals with an informant using cryptic, handwritten lists that Custom Lab employees allegedly helped interpret. Drug Enforcement Administration agents said Custom Lab Supply often made sales to individuals before opening its doors to the public at 7 a.m. in order to minimize the risk of law-enforcement detection. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D