A district judge will determine whether a former deputy committed a crime when he took a prescription drug in pill form and converted it into a liquid so it could be injected. Muskogee County District Judge Norman Thygesen will rule Wednesday whether David Meeks, 49, should be bound over for trial. Meeks, who also is a former candidate for sheriff, was arrested in January 2005 when police found him parked at a Muskogee grocery store with a syringe in his hand and a spoon on the floorboard. [continues 70 words]
It's called meth, poor man's cocaine, crystal meth, ice, glass and speed. Users inject it, snort it and smoke it. What they ingest is a mixture of deadly chemicals. And, when they "cook" it, methamphetamine leaves behind dangerous substances in walls, carpets and duct work. Those residues could affect others. "You can't be around acid, toluene, Drano and lye and it not have some effect on you," said Richard Slader, Fort Gibson chief of police. Many of the contaminants used in meth labs can be harmful. [continues 1311 words]
Store Owner Has Feb. 8 Court Date In Meth-Making Drug Case A Tahlequah store owner was charged Tuesday with possessing and selling pseudoephedrine, according to Cherokee County District Court documents. Shailesh Kumar R. "Sonny" Patel, 30, owner of Super Mart at First Street and Bertha Parker Bypass was arrested Friday. Patel's bond had been set at $250,000, but that amount was reduced to $50,000, and he was released Monday from Cherokee County Jail. He is scheduled to be back in Cherokee County District Court on Feb. 8 for an initial appearance. [continues 164 words]
Police Say Tahlequah Owner Was Selling Pseudoephedrine A Tahlequah convenience store owner was arrested Friday in connection with pseudoephedrine being stocked on his store's shelves, said Richard Gray, district attorney for Cherokee, Adair, Sequoyah and Wagoner counties. Sonny Patel, 30, owner of Super Mart at First Street and Bertha Parker Bypass, was arrested about 2 p.m. after investigators received a tip that pseudoephedrine was being sold at his convenience store. "He had 12 cases. Each case had 12 boxes in it. Each box had 36 tablets," Gray said. "They're not even supposed to sell it at a convenience store. He still had name-brand stuff on the shelf." [continues 132 words]
Although a nationwide report shows the number of women in prisons increasing, the number in Oklahoma is down. "Actually, we went from being No. 1 for our incarceration rate to No. 2 in the country, according to the latest (U.S.) Bureau of Justice report," said Jerry Massie, Oklahoma Department of Corrections public information officer. The statistics provided by the U.S. Bureau of Justice for 2003 show Oklahoma incarcerates 127 women per 100,000 residents compared to the No. 1 state for incarceration, Mississippi, which houses 134 women per 100,000 residents. [continues 576 words]
