PAIR FACE TRIAL IN DRUG CASE

Logger, son plead not guilty in timberland meth-lab charge

One of the largest timberland owners in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties
Tuesday pleaded not guilty to drug charges that business partners say could
end his controversial logging career.

Greg Koppala, 49, of Corralitos, pleaded not guilty to the manufacture of
methamphetamine at a hearing in Santa Cruz County Superior Court. His son,
Van Slagle, 19, pleaded not guilty to the same charge, a felony that
carries 17 years in prison upon conviction. Two other men, from East Palo
Alto and San Jose, who allegedly ran the operation, pleaded guilty to the
same charges Monday.

Meanwhile, police released several reports Tuesday indicating that Koppala
told Santa Cruz County sheriff's deputies on Jan. 19 -- the day of his
arrest -- that despite the fact he ``handles millions of dollars of timber
a year,'' he recently ran into financial trouble and agreed to allow a
methamphetamine lab on his property for three days in exchange for $8,000
cash.

``I asked Koppala why he would risk his home, freedom and property for
$8,000,'' said the report, filed by Deputy Steve Christensen. ``Koppala
said he didn't know why but just said he acted foolishly.''

After the court hearing, Koppala declined comment. He remains free on
bail. Superior Court Judge Robert Atack set his next court appearance for
Feb. 11.

The drug bust has drawn wide interest throughout the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Loggers move focus

Over the past two years a jump in redwood prices, combined with wood
shortages in Humboldt and Mendocino counties, has driven loggers from
California's north coast into the lush redwood forests of San Mateo, Santa
Cruz and Santa Clara counties. The new arrivals have more than doubled the
rate of cutting, sending logs 250 miles back over the Golden Gate Bridge to
mills in Mendocino and Humboldt counties. They have also run into a buzz
saw of protest from environmentalists and rural homeowners, many of them
recent arrivals from Silicon Valley.

Koppala has been among the more prominent timber operators. A native of
Eureka, Koppala moved to Santa Cruz County from Sonoma County several years
ago and began buying timberland.

He owns roughly 1,300 acres of property grown thick with redwood and
Douglas fir, as well as a $600,000 house in the hills above Aptos he
purchased in 1996. Koppala's logging projects have ranged from Redwood
Estates to Boulder Creek.

Last year, 700 residents of Redwood Estates signed petitions in an attempt
to block state approval of his plans to log up to 80 percent of steep
hillsides on slopes near Highway 17 and Summit Road. The Santa Cruz County
Board of Supervisors passed an emergency ordinance in September limiting
helicopter logging in response to another Koppala plan.

In that plan, he won state approval to log steep slopes at Malosky Creek,
near Brookdale, and to fly the logs out near homes.

``I considered it a really reckless application,'' said Santa Cruz County
Supervisor Mardi Wormhoudt. ``It said to me that his interest was taking
the money and getting out. This wasn't somebody looking at sustainable
logging.''

Logging career endangered

If he is convicted on the drug charges, Koppala's days as a logger might be
numbered.

Officials at Eel River Sawmills in Fortuna, near Eureka, said they have
bought land and timber in partnerships with Koppala for 20 years but now
are wary.

``If he was convicted, we would not do business with him again,'' said
Dennis Scott, an Eel River vice president. ``He'd be out of the business.
There aren't many companies that would want to deal with him.''

Prosecutors said that in the criminal case, Judge Atack indicated Monday he
might be willing to forgo jail time and instead issue probation to two
other men implicated in the case.

Leonel Velex, 34, of East Palo Alto and Demetrio Torrez, 35, of San Jose,
ran from Koppala's rural wooded property on Rider Road, five miles north of
Aptos, on Jan. 20 when sheriff's deputies acting on an anonymous tip raided
a methamphetamine lab there. They later were arrested and pleaded guilty to
manufacturing methamphetamine. They remain in Santa Cruz County Jail on
$50,000 bail. Sentencing is set for March 4.

On Monday, authorities issued an arrest warrant for Koppala's wife, Sally
Slagle, 43, of Corralitos.

Police found more than 50 gallons of liquid methamphetamine, valued at
about $1 million, on Koppala's property, according to Siddhartha Sundaram,
assistant Santa Cruz County district attorney.

``It's a pretty serious case,'' said Sundaram. ``There are a lot of drugs
involved. The quantity would make it consistent with the kind of case in
which we'd recommend prison.''