Miles away from Iraq
and Afghanistan, several weapons of mass destruction cases are awaiting
trial here in Watauga County.
According to a July 17 press release from the office of District
Attorney Jerry Wilson, his office is now charging individuals found
with clandestine (methamphetamine) laboratories with the B1 felony
of Unlawful Manufacture, Assembly, Possession, Storage, Transportation,
Sale, Purchase, Delivery, or Acquisition of a Nuclear, Biological,
or Chemical Weapon of Mass Destruction in violation of North Carolina
General Statute 14-288.21.
This is in response to the growing number of methamphetamine laboratories
in this district, namely Watauga County, the press release said.
In its press release, the district attorney’s office said that
the existing statutes for dealing with methamphetamine laboratories
are only class H felonies, which carry a maximum sentence of 30
months in jail. “The current statute is woefully insufficient
to address the epidemic of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories
that Watauga County is experiencing,” the press release said.
Assistant District Attorney Charles Byrd said that out of approximately
100 laboratories found in North Carolina this year, 28 have been
found in Watauga County.
Byrd said that so far there are 8-15 cases in Watauga County seeking
the weapons of mass destruction charge. If there are convictions
in these cases, the punishment will range from a minimum of 12 years
in prison to a life sentence, depending on the defendant’s
record, Byrd said.
“It definitely will make the risk of manufacturing methamphetamine
greater and hopefully will deter others from engaging in that type
of activity,” Byrd said. Byrd went on to say that he believes
it will set a precedent statewide, and other states will follow
as well.
Vincent Gable is currently representing four of the defendants in
these cases. Watauga is the first county in the nation to charge
someone with this, he said.
Gable said the first trial is set for Dec. 8.
“[If there is a conviction] it would set a very bad precedent,”
Gable said. “You’re looking at a possibility of up to
a life sentence on this.”
Ian Mance, a political science graduate student at Appalachian State
University and co-president of the campus American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU), said “DA Wilson is undermining the intent of
the state legislature, exploiting the national climate of fear for
personal political gain, and stretching the failed drug war to new,
even more outrageous limits.”
“A conviction in this case would be historic,” Mance said.
“It would essentially mean that under the government’s
newly expanded powers, non-violent drug offenders could now face
up to life imprisonment, if prosecuted as domestic terrorists for
crimes that previously would have warranted relatively short sentences.”
Mance said that students should be concerned “because this
is happening in our community. It’s happening to people our
age.”
“It’s offensive to our collective sense of justice to
think that in our country, people could get locked away forever
for drug crimes. But this is now a very real possibility.” |
