CHEMICAL SUPPLIERS CONVICTED

Three Could Face Life In Prison For Selling Meth Ingredients.

A former college chemistry professor and two of his partners in a
chemical-supply business were convicted Monday of conspiracy involving the
sale of millions of dollars in chemicals and equipment to clandestine
Central Valley methamphetamine manufacturers.

The case was the largest prosecution ever of a supplier of chemicals used
in the manufacture of methamphetamine and signaled what the government
termed an aggressive attack on the companies that provide the ingredients
for the illegal drug.

"The trial is emblematic of the commitment of the federal government to
interrupt the supply of chemicals to the methamphetamine manufacturers,
whether on the black market or through ostensibly legal businesses," said
Assistant U.S. Attorney William A. Shipley, the lead prosecutor in the case.

The federal court jury of six men and six women deliberated six days before
convicting Terry Crandall Mincey, 52, the former majority owner of Custom
Lab Supply Inc. in Oakland who was indicted in November 1997, along with
Calvin Roberts, 36, another part-owner of Custom Lab, and Betty Lou Lewis,
51, a former bookkeeper for the business, of conspiracy and
money-laundering charges.

A fourth defendant, Richard Simonsen, was acquitted of all charges and
threw his arms around famed San Francisco defense lawyer Tony Serra after
the verdicts were read.

Roberts and Mincey, who holds a doctorate degree in chemistry and once
taught the subject as an assistant professor at the University of
California at San Francisco, showed no reaction.

Lewis buried her head in her arms on the counsel table as U.S. District
Judge Robert E. Coyle thanked the jurors for their service and dismissed
them. She then sobbed in her lawyer's arms.

Coyle remanded all three, who had been out on bail, into custody and set
Friday for a hearing to determine whether they should be released pending
sentencing.

Because of the seriousness of the charges, all three are facing a maximum
of life in prison.

Still to be determined is the amount of money to be forfeited by the
company, and defense lawyers agreed that Coyle could hear the matter later
rather than having the jury return.

During the six-week trial, defense lawyers described the defendants as
honest business people who recorded every dime they received and followed
all government regulations.

The original indictment returned by a federal grand jury three years ago
also named Custom Lab as a defendant, but the government in February filed
a civil action seeking millions of dollars in cash and other assets from
the company and dropped it from the criminal case.

The trial evidence revealed that between Nov. 1, 1994 and Nov. 1, 1997,
Custom Lab sold more than $20 million worth of chemicals and equipment used
by methamphetamine manufacturers throughout the state.

Shipley said at the time of the indictment -- which was announced at a news
conference in Sacramento -- that the Central Valley has become a major
battlefield in the war on meth-trafficking organizations.

The case involved some high-powered legal defense. Mincey was represented
by Fresno lawyer E. Marshall Hodgkins; Roberts was represented by Fresno
lawyer Anthony Capozzi; Lewis was represented by Ukiah lawyer Ann C. Moorman.

Serra, who represented Simonsen, said after the jury's verdict that
Simonsen worked in the warehouse as a forklift driver and had no knowledge
of what was going on with regard to chemicals or cash.

"He's a good man. He deserves his freedom," Serra said. "We appreciate the
jury saw the truth."

Custom Lab sold the drug manufacturers iodine, red phosphorous, hydrogen
chloride gas, Freon and sodium hydroxide, along with the 22-liter flasks
and heating mantles used to "cook" the drug.

The only other chemical needed to manufacture methamphetamine is ephedrine
or pseudoephedrine, an ingredient in over-the-counter cold medications.

Shipley said that those chemicals comprised more than 85% of the total
sales of Custom Lab during the three years in question.

Buyers in the transactions at Custom Lab forked over currency, often tens
of thousands of dollars per visit. On some of those occasions, the buyer
was a member of a drug task force who pretended to speak no English and
purchased the chemicals with an informant using cryptic, handwritten lists
that Custom Lab employees allegedly helped interpret.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents said Custom Lab Supply often made
sales to individuals before opening its doors to the public at 7 a.m. in
order to minimize the risk of law-enforcement detection.