LAB BUST NETS JAIL TERM SENTENCE

Prosecutors finally have their first conviction for crystal methamphetamine
production in the Okanagan as Chet Keller, 32, was sentenced to three years
in prison Monday.

Keller was one of the lowest-level operators in a large, sophisticated
commercial methamphetamine lab located in a home on Postill Drive. The lab
was busted in December 2001 in a joint investigation stemming from wiretap
evidence obtained in Alberta.

Police arrested five people involved in the Kelowna operation, but Keller's
is the first conviction.

One of the men - the man who signed the rental agreement for the property -
was killed in a fight with police near Salmon Arm, one man pleaded guilty
to a Waste Management Act charge, another man pleaded guilty to possession
of narcotics and one final man is still awaiting trial.

Since the case extends from 2001, his lawyer intends to argue for a
discharge because of unreasonable delay.

Court heard for the first time Monday that police had been watching the
home for months before finally putting a stop to it.

Police set up a video camera to record actions around the house in November.

The tape caught Keller returning to the home on a daily basis.

That, and fingerprint evidence, pinpointed Keller as the meth cook.

Bill Clarke, Keller's lawyer, said his client got involved just a month or
two before the bust as a way to pay some bills.

He and his fiance had moved from Calgary to Peachland and had trouble
finding work, then developed a drug habit that led him to the company of
the co-accused, Clarke said.

"He was influenced and led astray by people who will go unpunished," Clarke
said.

That got little sympathy from Judge Vince Hogan.

"As a provincial court judge, I regularly sit and listen to horrendously
damaged and addicted people with meth addictions," Hogan said. "It's
particularly destructive to young people and increases the homelessness
problem.

"His motivation at the time was greed without any concern for the
destruction of those human beings harmed in the production of this labours.

"He was actively involved in the poisoning of our community."