CHARGES DROPPED AGAINST ALLEGED METH MAKERS

SAN LUIS OBISPO -- The District Attorney's Office has dropped all charges
against two men connected to a well-publicized case initially said to
involve a major methamphetamine-making operation.

The dismissal this week comes four months after authorities learned the 10
pounds of powder they seized from a rural San Luis Obispo property wasn't
meth at all but caustic soda. After making that discovery in March, the
District Attorney's Office dismissed charges that would have added prison
time for convictions of drug manufacturing against Howard Leasure, 42, and
Nickolaus Kopp, 62. On Monday Deputy District Attorney Ron Abrams asked to
have the remaining drug charges dropped after a judge refused to grant him a
continuance. Abrams had asked for more time on behalf of the county
Narcotics Task Force, which is reportedly pursuing a broader investigation.

"NTF informed me they cannot go forward with this case, because to do so
would jeopardize a continuing investigation that involves several
jurisdictions," Abrams said. "We have the right to refile the charges."

San Luis Obispo Police Sgt. Jim English, an NTF spokesman, declined to
comment on Abrams' statements. English said he anticipates charges against
both Kopp and Leasure will be refiled.

Leasure said this week he's no drug dealer and thought NTF agents would
eventually come to realize that and leave him alone.

"They kept calling me 'The King of Denial,' " Leasure said. "I wasn't
denying anything. I didn't know anything."

For months NTF agents secretly watched the O'Connor Way property where
Leasure and his wife lived in a rented mobile home. The agents made their
move in mid-March.

A press conference was called the next day to announce the arrests of both
Leasure and Kopp and the seizure of what appeared to be 10 pounds of meth.
The story led the evening news.

Kopp posted $40,000 bail within days of his arrest. Leasure spent 16 days
behind bars. All the while, he said he wondered when drug agents would come
to their senses.

"When they raided the property and tried to say I made 50 pounds and
$200,000 a week for a year, I told them: 'I wish,' " said Leasure. "If I was
doing that, I probably wouldn't have been there when they came to raid --
I'd probably have been in Tahiti."

The attorney representing Leasure's co-defendant said "clearly a mistake was
made."

"Sometimes the excitement of the moment can overtake the objectivity;
sometimes emotions and pride overtake a detached investigation," said Ilan
Funke-Bilu.

"It's too bad they didn't think of continuing this broadened investigation
prior to arresting my client. It's too bad he had to be arrested, had to
hire an attorney, had to go through court, only to find out his case was
dismissed for a broader investigation."

Funke-Bilu said he doesn't believe the case was filed in bad faith. "It's
just unfortunate my client had to go through emotional and financial trauma
while the government decides to proceed with this quote 'broadened' unquote
investigation. It doesn't smell right."

Task Force agents initially reported seizing a significant amount of meth at
1020 O'Connor Way, along with chemicals used to make the drug and waste
materials indicating that up to 150 pounds of meth had allegedly been
manufactured on the property.

Search warrants were served at both the O'Connor Way site and Kopp's Main
Street property in Cambria. During the search on O'Connor Way, agents said
they seized equipment and chemicals used to make meth. The haul included
more than 70 freon cans, a gas cylinder, red phosphorous, a hydraulic meth
press, filters with residue consistent with the manufacturing of meth and
300 pounds of sodium hydroxide. Sodium hydroxide is found in many drain
cleaners and is also known as caustic soda or lye.

The 10 pounds of suspected meth was later determined to also be sodium
hydroxide.

Leasure said he and his wife Sally had rented the mobile home on the
O'Connor Way property about 11 months prior to the March 19 raid. He said he
knew all along he was under surveillance for suspected drug manufacturing.
He said a friend who knew about the investigation told him.

Leasure said he once confronted two agents he spotted watching him from the
hills above his mobile home.

"I snuck up on them one night and asked them if they were having fun
watching me. I scared the pants off them."

Leasure said he wasn't manufacturing meth. He said the chemical containers
weren't his, but the 10 pounds of sodium hydroxide was.

"I got it from a lab to use to separate any bad stuff from the drinking
water, because I thought the water from the storage tank might be
contaminated," Leasure said. "You should have seen those guys running around
when they found that salt. Their adrenalin was flowing, and I just sat there
calm as can be thinking: 'Boy, are you guys a bunch of buffoons. Just wait
until you find out it's not what you think it is.' "

Leasure also said he rarely saw Kopp, a sculptor from Cambria. According to
the property owner, Kopp and Leasure co-leased a shop just up the hill from
Leasure's mobile home.

Property owner Alex Ramey said he suspects meth was made on the property at
some point. Ramey recently filed a complaint with the Sheriff's Office,
alleging Leasure owes him back rent and ran up credit cards and utility
bills that were taken out in Ramey's name.

Leasure declined to say where he lives because of his legal troubles with
his ex-landlord, although he denies he stole from him. He also said he's
against drug use and wouldn't manufacture a toxic product that damages the
environment.

According to court records, neither Kopp nor Leasure have previous drug
histories in San Luis Obispo County.

"I'm a Native American -- we do not destroy our earth," said Leasure. "I'm a
priest. I built a sweat lodge on the property where we held religious
ceremonies, and NTF destroyed it. They desecrated a church -- and for what?"

Leasure said he believes this was a case of "small town politics" designed
to enhance the political career of San Luis Obispo Police Chief Jim
Gardiner, something Sgt. English vehemently denied.

"They did the raid right after the police chief announced he was running for
sheriff, and he's the one who's at this big press conference," said Leasure.
"All the TV stations kept showing this footage and blasted our names out
there. It looked good for NTF, that's how they get their money. Only
problem: None of it was true."

Even landlord Ramey is upset with the police.

Ramey said he was told about the investigation six months before the arrest
and was told to steer clear of his tenants.

After months passed without word from drug agents he had talked to, Ramey
figured the investigation was over.

Ramey said he was out of town when the raid went down, and no one from any
of the participating agencies called him. When the raid hit the news and
Ramey learned the media had been invited out to his property -- along with a
man delivering pizzas to agents -- he wasn't thrilled.

"I called (an NTF agent) and said: 'You told me you wouldn't let the place
get trashed.' And he told me I had a big cleanup to do."

Ramey said he spent weeks worrying whether he'd be billed for the hefty cost
to clean up any environmental contaminants in the wake of the suspected drug
manufacturing. He said he was later told tests were inconclusive, meaning
not enough of the chemicals were found to deem the property unsafe.

"Here I cooperated with them; I lost a lot of sleep thinking I'd get stuck
with a $100,000 cleanup bill. I lost back rent, and here they'd turned this
thing into a dog-and-pony show to make somebody look good," said Ramey. "You
ever felt so disgusted and defenseless about something that's so out of your
control you don't know what to do? That's how it's been for me."

Checked-by: Melodi Cornett