DRUG IDEA A BUST FOR ROCKETEER

Kentucky Man Guilty In Case Of Meth Missile That Failed To Fire

Hard telling how long it took Joseph Seidl and Michael Sullivan to
come up with the idea, but it sure was sweet when it came together.

Imagine a homemade, cigarette-lighter-powered, drug-hiding rocket
that sits in the trunk and can be activated from the driver's seat,
ejecting illegal contraband from the vehicle with the flip of a
switch. Beats swallowing the stash.

Thing is, the rocket won't launch if it's not plugged in. That's
apparently what Seidl and Sullivan forgot last summer when they were
stopped June 24, 2005, in Callaway County for speeding on Interstate 70.

Missouri Highway Patrol trooper Tommy Wally pulled over the pair,
opened the trunk of the red 1990 Ford Thunderbird and found the
4-foot-long cylindrical device stuffed with 2 pounds of "ice," or
methamphetamine.

Seidl, 39, of Kentucky pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District
Judge Nanette Laughrey in Jefferson City to participating in a
conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Sullivan, 41, also of Kentucky, pleaded guilty last month to his role
in the conspiracy. Sullivan, who was driving the car, fled on foot
after the traffic stop and was arrested after throwing a small amount
of suspected meth on the ground.

According to an affidavit given by Special Agent Steve Mattas of the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the rocket was controlled by an
elaborate system of ropes and pulleys designed to lift it into an
upright position once the trunk was popped from inside the vehicle.
The bottom of the 4-foot-long rocket, which was about 4 inches in
diameter, had eight explosive charges connected by a series of wires
to a homemade switch in the front of the car.

The wires drew power from an adapter plugged into the car's cigarette
lighter, Mattas said, adding that a bomb squad from the Missouri
Highway Patrol found the contraption to be functional. Inside the
rocket, law enforcement officials found two gallon-size Ziploc bags
containing a large quantity of methamphetamine.

However, the power source to the rocket had been disconnected. So the
Kentucky men's elaborate plan to shoot their "ice" into space never
got off the launch pad.

Three pipe bombs also found in the trunk were tested and determined
to be phony, Mattas said. But inside the bombs, officers discovered
more illegal drugs. To top it off, officers found a bundle of $12,000
in cash underneath a newspaper near the front of the passenger seat,
Mattas said. Seidl claimed he saved the money from his $40,000-a-year
job as a "chicken catcher" at Tyson Foods, the DEA agent said.

Seidl could face a sentence of 20 years in federal prison without
parole to life in federal prison without parole, plus a fine of up to
$8 million. A sentencing hearing has not be set.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Douglas Shull prosecuted the case
with help from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.