here is the john "spitball" pierson saga as reported by local press in the
st. paul/minneapolis area:
(each of these articles is copywritten by the publisher/author and taken from their sources...cribdeath.com claims no responsibility for the accuracy or any of the like....blah blah blah...)
from the Channel 4000 website:
Police Evacuate 8 From Suspected Meth Lab
MINNEAPOLIS, Updated 12:24 p.m. CST November 10, 1999 -- Police believe they found a methamphetamine lab late Monday when they went to a south Minneapolis apartment to serve a narcotics warrant.
An informant told police that a 27-year-old man was making drugs in the apartment building at 711 W. Lake St. in the Lynlake neighborhood.
Police found two rooms full of chemicals used for manufacturing methamphetamines. There are so many chemicals involved that a chemist from Chicago is being flown in to consult on the case, WCCO-TV reported.
Authorities say that it is one of the biggest meth labs ever busted in the state of Minnesota, if not the country. Police also went to the suspect's house to search for drugs and chemicals, but found nothing.
Residents of adjacent apartments were awakened at 4 a.m. Wednesday and evacuated; they were taken to shelters for the night.
Police cordoned off a half-block area, but no streets have been closed. Businesses in the area will be closed all day.
from the Channel 4000 website:
Police Investigate Suspected Meth Lab
Officers Evacuated Nearby Businesses Amid Fears Of An Explosion
MINNEAPOLIS , Updated 11:54 p.m. CST November 10, 1999 -- Police raided a suspected methamphetamine lab Wednesday where they found large amounts of chemicals that they were trying to identify.
Authorities found the suspected lab when they tried to serve a drug warrant in south Minneapolis early in the day.
According to WCCO-TV, someone tipped off authorities to the location of the lab.
The building was located between Lyndale and Aldrich avenues.
Chemists from the Drug Enforcement Agency in Chicago came to the lab to help identify the materials found, said Minneapolis Police Sgt. Troy Schmitz.
"It's going to be one of the bigger ones in the state," Schmitz said, referring to the amount of materials. He said some of the chemicals are not just used for methamphetamine.
Two men were arrested. One faces drug possession charges but might not be involved in the lab, Schmitz said. The other was arrested at the alleged lab.
The lab was located in a building that housed other businesses, including a dance studio, Schmitz said. Police closed about five to 10 businesses along Lake Street for the entire day.
WCCO-TV reported that police closed the businesses because they feared the chemicals could cause an explosion. Police said there are enough chemicals in the building to level the whole block if ignited.
The businesses were expected to be open again Thursday.
from the Channel 4000 website:
Man Charged In Minneapolis Meth Lab Bust
Police Seize Crystal Meth, $50,000 In Cash
MINNEAPOLIS, Posted 5:48 p.m. CST November 12, 1999 -- Charges were filed Friday in this week's methamphetamine lab bust in Minneapolis, one of the largest in Minnesota history.
The U.S. attorney's office charged John Michael Pierson with one count of manufacturing and possessing methamphetamine.
Police seized $50,000 in cash and two pounds of "crystal meth" -- the most potent form of methamphetamine -- liquids and $50,000 in cash.
Officers said the two pounds of meth would have a street value of $90,000 if it were sold in gram quantities.
Police discovered the lab Tuesday when they burst into a commercial building to arrest a drug suspect. Area residents and business owners were temporarily forced out of the building as authorities decided how to safely remove the volatile chemicals.
The charge carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years, with no possibility of parole.
from the Pioneer Press website:
Meth-lab suspect skips appearance in federal court
Pierson had been scheduled to plead guilty to charges
AMY MAYRON STAFF WRITER
A man indicted by a federal grand jury on charges he operated a large methamphetamine lab in a building near Minneapolis' trendy Uptown neighborhood skipped his guilty plea Tuesday.
John Michael Pierson, 27, was scheduled to plead guilty at 11 a.m. in front of U.S. District Court Judge Michael Davis. Shortly after 11:30 a.m., Davis issued a warrant for Pierson's arrest.
Pierson was arrested Nov. 10 when police raided the Calhoun, a six-story building on Lake Street near Lyndale Avenue that is used primarily by artists and nonprofit organizations. Police sealed off part of the busy intersection for more than a day while toxic and explosive chemicals were removed.
Pierson has been showing up on time to court since his December indictment. He even attended a meeting Monday at U.S. District Court in Minneapolis with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Paulsen and a Drug Enforcement Administration agent. And about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Pierson called his attorney, Earl Gray, at his St. Paul office and told him he'd meet him at the courthouse about 10:15 a.m.
Pierson was released from federal custody in December and placed on electronic home monitoring. Pierson wore an ankle bracelet with a transmitter that signaled through his telephone line. Pierson could not go beyond 150 feet of the telephone line without federal authorities being alerted.
Pierson was permitted to go to work or to court if he informed authorities of his schedule. If he was at work, authorities would either check with his employer or do random checks at his workplace. He was required to return home by a designated time and authorities would know when he was within the signal's range.
On Tuesday morning, authorities noted that Pierson left his home at 10:07 a.m. That was the last they heard of him, and they had no reason to believe anything was wrong until he failed to show up at his hearing.
The bracelet is not hard to take off with metal cutting tools, said Ken Harrington, an officer with pretrial services, a federal agency that monitors defendants who are released from custody pending the outcome of their cases.
Pierson had been expected to plead guilty Tuesday to one count of possession with intent to distribute two kilos of methamphetamine and one count of manufacturing methamphetamine.
The plea agreement did not offer a reduced sentence but would have allowed Pierson's attorney to appeal the search and seizure of Pierson's apartment and property. Pierson was facing a maximum of 22 years in prison.
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