Cops bust Madison Twp. meth lab, four charged
Four defendants remain in custody following the discovery of a functioning methamphetamine lab Jan. 26 at a Madison Township apartment complex, township police report.
Detectives found the clandestine workshop at about 10 a.m. as they investigated reported thefts and possible drug activity at the Hollyridge Apartments, according to a news release from Madison Township Police Chief Matthew Byers.
“Through the course of the investigation, it was learned that methamphetamine was being manufactured in one of the apartments,” Byers said. “Detectives eventually discovered an active methamphetamine lab in the apartment.”
Byers said personnel from the Lake County Narcotics Agency responded to the scene at 7335 North Ridge Road, Apt. A14, to assist with the investigation and helped decontaminate the apartment.Advertisement A woman who lives there, Christine M. Adams, is being held on a $10,000/10 percent cash or surety bond, pending a preliminary hearing where she’ll face a second-degree felony charge of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, Painesville Municipal Court records show. Adams, 41, faces up to eight years behind bars if convicted.
Another Hollyridge Apartments resident, Scott F. DeDomenico, 37, also was arrested at the scene and faces the same second-degree felony charge as Adams, according to court records. Two Ashtabula residents also were arrested at the scene: Kortnie Abbott-Sprott, 27, of 3122 Johnson Court, and Joseph J. Stern, 34, of 5650 Woodman Ave., Lot 76, court records show.
Stern is charged with manufacturing methamphetamine, a second-degree felony; and Abbott-Sprott is charged with third-degree felony assembly/possession of one or more chemicals to manufacture methamphetamine, court records show. If convicted, Abbot-Sprott faces up to three years behind bars and Stern faces up to eight.
Ohio has registered in the top three states ranked by meth lab incidents over the last two years, according to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration statistics.
These numbers show that, in 2014, Ohio ranked third highest in the nation with 939 such incidents, behind Missouri, with 1,034, and Indiana, with 1,471. Ohio maintained its third-place ranking through September 2015, with 633 incidents, the DEA reports. Leading the way in clandestine meth labs in 2015 was Indiana and its 1,031 incidents and second-place Michigan, which had 671 clandestine meth lab incidents reported by the DEA.
Published by the News-Herald