JOPPA MAN GETS 17 YEARS ON METH CHARGES

ARAB - An Arab businessman faces at least 17 years in prison after pleading
guilty to six charges involving illegal distribution of crystal
methamphetamine. The plea was heard Monday in U.S. District Court in
Huntsville.

Formal sentencing for Bobby Joe Young, 39, who lives in the Joppa community
near Arab, is set for Nov. 13. A plea agreement reached this week will
allow him to avoid a possible life without parole sentence and the seizure
of his home and other property.

Young, who operated Young Heating and Cooling in Arab, was arrested in
October 2000 and January this year and charged in Cullman County with
illegally having more than three pounds of crystal methamphetamine at his
home. Young's residence is in Cullman County but in the Arab police
jurisdiction.

About 35 loaded handguns and rifles and $1,400 in cash were seized during
the two arrests, which also involved the Marshall County Drug Enforcement Unit.

The case was later turned over to federal authorities who indicted Young on
two counts of possession of drugs, two counts of possession of a gun while
in possession of drugs and related charges. Young had been in the Cullman
County Jail in lieu of a $1 million bond since January this year before the
indictment came in April, when he was transferred to a federal detention
center near Birmingham.

If convicted on all counts in federal court, Young could have faced up to
200 years in prison. With the plea bargain, he was sentenced to 20 years
and, under federal guidelines, must serve at least 85 percent of that time
before being eligible for parole.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to distribute crystal meth,
possession of meth, possession of firearms while possessing drugs,
obstruction of justice and having a weapon on him when he was arrested. The
plea agreement means he gave up the right to appeal.