News
Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 25, 2003 |
FOR
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Shirley A. Armstead, Special Agent
Public Information Officer
Office: 314-538-4752
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Pickard
And Apperson Sentenced On LSD Charges
Largest LSD
Lab Seizure In DEA History
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Clyde
Apperson
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William
J. Renton, Jr., Special Agent in Charge of the St. Louis Division, Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA), and United States Attorney Eric Melgren
announced today that William Leonard Pickard, 58, Mill Valley,
California, and Clyde Apperson, 48, Sunnyvale, California, were
sentenced this afternoon by U.S. District Judge Richard D. Rogers. Pickard
was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Apperson was sentenced
to 30 years imprisonment without parole.
Melgren said that
Pickard and Apperson were found guilty on March 31, 2003, following an
eleven week jury trial of one count of conspiracy to manufacture and distribute
more than 10 grams of LSD from August 1999 through November 2000 and one
count of possession with the intent to distribute more than 10 grams of
LSD on November 6, 2000.
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Leonard
Pickard
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Melgren stated that
according to court testimony, this was the single largest seizure of
an operable LSD lab in the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
DEA agents seized approximately 41.3 kilograms (90.86 pounds) of LSD,
approximately 97.5 kilograms (214.5 pounds) of lysergic acid, a precursor
to LSD, approximately 23.6 kilograms (51.92 pounds) of iso-LSD, a by-product
from the manufacture of LSD and 19 kilograms (41.8 pounds) of ergocristine,
a precursor to LSD with the ability to create an additional 12.4 kilograms
(27.28 pounds of LSD.
Further trial evidence
established that in the history of DEA there have only been four seizures
of complete LSD labs and three of these seizures involved Pickard and
Apperson including a lab in Mountainview, California in 1998, a lab
in Oregon in 1996, and this lab in Wamego, Kansas.
Melgren said that
according to court testimony, on October 31, 2000, DEA agents conducted
a search of a silo site near Wamego, Kansas, and found a LSD lab packed
in storage boxes. On November 6, 2000, Pickard and Apperson were moving
the illegal lab when they were stopped by the Kansas Highway Patrol. Apperson
was arrested driving the rental truck containing the lab. Pickard, who
was driving a Buick LeSabre, fled on foot and was arrested the next day
at a farm outside Wamego. Fourteen canisters of a chemical required to
produce LSD valued at over $1,000,000 were found at the missile silo.
According to court testimony, Pickard and Apperson previously manufactured
LSD in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where every five weeks the lab produced about
2.2 pounds of LSD, approximately 10 million doses that cost less than
one cent a dose to produce and would sell for as much as $10 a dose. According
to court testimony, the LSD was shipped to California and later to Europe
for distribution.
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The site
of the LSD lab was a former missile silo.
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Melgren commended
the excellent work of the Drug Enforcement Administration, DEA Task Force,
and Kansas Highway Patrol with special recognition to Special Agent Karl
Nichols, DEA, Special Agent Roger Hanzlik, DEA Task Force, Ralph Sorrell,
Leavenworth Police Department/DEA Task Force, and O.C.D.E.T.F. in this
investigation and Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Hough in this prosecution.
O.C.D.E.T.F., Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, is a Congressionally
funded task force with multi-agency federal, state and local members dedicated
to investigating and prosecuting large-scale narcotics and money laundering
cases nationally.
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During the
case, agents seized highly sophisticated chemical glasswae required
to manufacture LSD.
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"Our nation's
war on drugs is not limited to major metropolitan areas or border states.
Manufacturers and traffickers of illegal drugs are increasingly moving
to less populated areas in an attempt to avoid detection," Melgren
said. "This case clearly demonstrates that moving such illegal activity
to Kansas is a mistake. Due to the cooperative efforts of our federal,
state and local law enforcement agencies, they will be caught. Due to
the commitment of my office, they will be aggressively prosecuted. Due
to Kansans' common sense and respect for the law, those who are guilty
of such activity will be convicted. And due to the federal sentencing
guidelines, they will be sentenced to significant time in prison. The
message from this case is clear: drug dealers and manufacturers may not
consider Kansas a place where they may get away with their illegal activies.
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The decomination
process following the seizure of the LSD lab.
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DEA Special Agent
in Charge William J. Renton, Jr. stated, "the sentencing of William
Pickard and Clyde Apperson brings to conclusion their significant role
in the international production and distribution of LSD. These defendants
were proven, by overwhelming evidence, to be responsible for the illicit
manufacture of the majority of the LSD sold in this nation. The proof
of the significance of these prosecutions and convictions lies in the
fact that LSD availability in the United States was reduced by 95 % in
the two years following their arrest. The Drug Enforcement Administration
is proud to have led this historic investigation, and to have had the
close cooperation of our partners in state and local law enforcement.
I congratulate U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren and his staff for the outstanding
prosecution conducted in this matter."
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