Man gets two years for role in manufacture of methamphetamines

A former Wayne County sheriff's deputy has been sentenced to two years in
prison for his role in a methamphetamine manufacturing operation in his
former Rittman home.

Phillip Black, 33, pleaded guilty March 23 in Wayne County Common Pleas
Court to reduced charges of attempted illegal manufacture of drugs and
possession of drugs.

At the sentencing hearing on Thursday, Common Pleas Judge Mark K. Wiest also
ordered Black to pay a $5,000 fine.

Black's live-in girlfriend, Candy Chamberlin, 30, pleaded guilty to the same
two charges and an additional charge of child endangerment, because her
6-year-old daughter was living with the couple.

Judge Wiest sentenced her to 90 days in the county jail plus 90 days home
arrest and also fined her $5,000. She also was placed on three years'
probation, ordered to undergo drug rehabilitation and to perform 200 hours
of community service.

Black and Chamberlin were accused of making methamphetamine -- better known
as ``speed'' or ``crystal meth'' -- at the Strawberry Lane home they shared
from April to October 1997.

Their roommate, Michael E. Stierl, 46, of Rittman, was sentenced to seven
years in prison in February after pleading guilty to illegally manufacturing
drugs.

Police arrested Stierl on state Route 57 in a traffic stop on Oct. 1 after
receiving a tip from Cuyahoga Falls police that Stierl might be living with
Black and Chamberlin in Rittman. A search of the home the same day turned up
the drug manufacturing lab.

Stierl also faces charges of operating similar labs in Summit County.

Black and Chamberlin originally were charged with more serious drug charges.
But assistant Prosecutor John Williams said he agreed to reduce the charges
in return for guilty pleas because the couple may not have known the extent
of Stierl's operation and they cooperated with police.

``They weren't full participants,'' Williams said. ``It was largely run by
him (Stierl). There was no evidence they were active participants in
trafficking.''

Williams said Black could be eligible to apply for early release from prison
after six months.

At sentencing, Judge Wiest said Black deserved prison time because he
committed his crimes while serving as a law enforcement officer.

Because Black is a former law officer, he will serve his time separate from
other inmates at the Lorain Correctional Institution.

Judge Wiest also noted that the drug lab in the Strawberry Lane home
threatened Chamberlin's child and other innocent people because the chemical
used to make methamphetamines produces toxic and explosive vapors.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ruled in November that the home was
free from toxic damage and was no longer a risk to residents.

Black, who resigned Oct. 6 after seven years as a deputy, apologized to
former co-workers, his family and friends.