| For Immediate Release November 3rd, 2005 |
Contact: | Mark Macaulay Media Relations Spokesperson (714) 347-8405 Office (714) 323-4486 Cell |
SAN CLEMENTE PAROLEE SENTENCED TO NINE YEARS INSTATE PRISON FOR RUNNING A METH LAB OUT OFA HOME IN AN AFFLUENT O.C. SUBURB
Santa Ana – Damien Smith, 29, of San Clemente was sentenced today to nine years in state prison for his role in a clandestine methamphetamine lab in an affluent Laguna Niguel neighborhood with multi-million dollar homes. Smith pled guilty on October 7, 2005 to conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine (meth), manufacturing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine for sale, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person. Smith along with his girlfriend Adrien Volz, Kevin Lattinville and Lawrence Zon, were using the Laguna Niguel home owned by Volz’s mother to manufacture methamphetamine. Volz was the caretaker of the home for her mother who did not live at the Laguna Niguel residence and was unaware that it was being used to manufacture illegal drugs.
On the evening of September 9, 2003, during a parole check, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department found a large meth lab that was in several stages of production throughout the home. There were 4 pounds of finished meth, over 10 gallons of meth in solution, and a loaded semi-automatic pistol found in the house. Based on the equipment and the chemicals found inside the residence, investigators estimated that the lab could easily manufacture fifty pounds of meth each cycle. The meth found at the scene could have sold for $80,000 had it been cut and circulated on the street.
“The process of making methamphetamine creates significant public health risks, including deadly fumes, and contamination of soil and water from the toxic waste generated from this type of clandestine laboratory,” said Deputy District Attorney Nagy Morcos in the District Attorney’s Felony Projects Unit who prosecuted the case. “We are all fortunate no one was seriously injured as a result of this large scale clandestine operation, which was located in a residential area, where people live and kids play.”
Smith was sentenced by the Honorable Judge Richard Toohey in the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana. Zon pled guilty on September 27, 2005 to conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine for sale. He was sentenced to 10 years in state prison. Lattinville pled guilty on October 7, 2005 to conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine for sale. He was sentenced to seven years in state prison. Volz pled guilty on October 7, 2005 to conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, manufacturing methamphetamine, allowing a place for manufacturing, and possession of methamphetamine for sale. She was given a five year suspended sentence and will serve one year in Orange County Jail. She was also placed on five years felony probation.
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