Wheelersburg man second to plead in meth lab case

Published 9:41 am Thursday, May 3, 2012

A second man pleaded guilty for his involvement with a mobile meth lab Wednesday in Lawrence County Common Pleas Court.

Judge Charles Cooper sentenced Charles Bond II, 49, of 486 Hammerstein Road, Lot 110, Wheelersburg, to eight years in prison for first-degree illegal manufacturing of drugs, six years for second-degree illegal assembly or possession of chemicals for the manufacturing of drugs, 11 months in prison for fifth-degree possession of criminal tools and 90 days in the county jail for possession of drug abuse instruments.

Cooper ordered the sentences to run concurrently for a total of eight years in prison. Bond will also have to pay any mandatory fines imposed.

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Before sentencing, Bond simply said “thank you” to the court.

Bond is the second man to plead guilty to the mobile meth lab charges. Bond was represented by attorney Samantha Fields.

Danny Brown, 43, of 2121 Vermont Ave., pleaded guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison in April.

Randy Stevens, 42, of 1220 North Ave., Portsmouth, Charles Price, 40, of 2121 Vermont Ave., co-defendants in the case, face the same charges.

The four men were stopped by a Hanging Rock police officer in late February.

The officer said he noticed things about the vehicle he thought were suspicious. A search of the truck allegedly confirmed the officer’s suspicions and the four men were arrested.

In other cases, two people who were arrested in a traffic stop in Hanging Rock in April were arraigned.

David Hansard, 29, of 2890 Clermont Road, Columbus, pleaded not guilty to first-degree trafficking in cocaine and possession of cocaine through his attorney J.T. Holt.

Specifications to the trafficking charge, according to the indictment, said Hansard had $308 on him at the time of the offense.

Courtney Mitchell, 23, of 216 28th St., Huntington, W.Va., pleaded not guilty through her attorney Scott Evans to first-degree trafficking in cocaine, possession of cocaine, third-degree tampering with evidence and misdemeanor endangering children.

Specifications to the trafficking charge, according to the indictment, said Mitchell had $1,104 on her at the time of the offense.

Cooper set bond for Hansard at $100,000 and scheduled a pretrial for May 16.

Cooper set bond for Mitchell at $75,000 and scheduled a pretrial for May 16.

Mitchell’s attorney, Evans, asked for a lower bond of $25,000, citing she had a small child she needed to make arrangements for.

Prosecuting Attorney J.B. Collier Jr. said, “One of the charges is endangering children.”

Two other co-defendants in the case, Angela Cooper, 29, of 624 Tenth St., Huntington W.Va., and Hollie Davis, 43, of 5866 Davis Creek Road, Barboursville, W.Va., were also scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.

Neither showed up to court and warrants were issued.

All four were arrested in early April when an officer with the Hanging Rock Police Department stopped a vehicle they were in. The officer said the passengers began to act suspiciously.

A search of the car and suspects netted 44 grams of cocaine and more than $2,000 in cash.