Foutch found with another meth lab
Lawmen serving a federal arrest warrant against a local man, found him in possession of yet another illegal methamphetamine lab this week.
The suspect, Stephen Foutch, 41, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of manufacture of meth and conspiracy to manufacture meth. His federal charges come following three arrests here by city and county lawmen, the latest of which came last year when he was arrested at a local apartment complex where he was allegedly operating a lab.
According to Sheriff Jackie Matheny, deputies went to Foutch’s residence to serve the federal arrest warrant this week only to discover a meth lab. Matheny noted the lab included the items generally associated with the manufacture of meth plus about 20 grams of finished product was found.
In addition to his arrest, Julia Marie Foutch, 47, was arrested and charged with manufacture of meth. Charges of child neglect were also issued against her because she had her 4-year-old daughter at the residence where the lab was found. She is charged locally and is not part of the federal arrest warrant against Stephen Foutch.
As for Mr. Foutch, the federal charges could mean an extensive jail stay since federal counts generally carry longer jail terms than are received on the local level.
“The jail time is definitely longer on the federal level,” Matheny said. “Generally, when a case is taken federally, the suspect is going away for a long, long time.”
While the jail time is longer in federal court, McMinnville Police narcotics investigator Tony Jenkins said meth traffickers still persist in their trade, despite the threat of federal time.
“Many of them are willing to roll the dice to see what happens,” Jenkins said. “They know that some of them will go federal but that doesn’t seem to deter them.”
The difference in sentences between federal court and state court is overwhelming. Locally, sentences for manufacture of meth routinely have an offender spend around 180 days in jail. The remainder of the four to eight-year sentences are served on supervised probation.
Meanwhile, federal sentences have seen terms ranging from five years to over 20 years for meth labs, which is made even more extreme by the fact federal offenders do not get early release through parole.
Differences in sentencing guidelines and funding for prisons are the most prominent reasons for the sentencing disparities.