DRUG CONSPIRACY LAWS PASS TEST WITH GUILTY VERDICTS

In this test, federal prosecutors walked away with an A.

A jury in U.S. District Court delivered a sweeping series of guilty
verdicts Tuesday in the region's first-ever federal conspiracy case
involving a methamphetamine lab.

It was a test case of sorts on the U.S. Attorney's Office's ability to use
drug conspiracy laws to battle what has been deemed a meth epidemic in East
Tennessee's rural communities.

"We're pleased with the verdict," Assistant U.S. Attorney James Brooks said.

Although Brooks and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Theodore downplayed the
idea either made local history in successfully prosecuting meth-makers as
drug conspirators, Theodore said he hopes like-minded suspects take note.

"Hopefully, this trial will have a deterrent effect on others who might be
tempted to engage in this kind of conduct," Theodore said.

The jury took less than two hours to deem four Monroe County citizens
charged in the conspiracy guilty, collectively, of more than a dozen
counts. The jury found a fifth defendant, Steven Bivens, guilty of being a
convicted felon in possession of a shotgun.

Judge Thomas Phillips dismissed conspiracy charges against Bivens Monday
after attorney Bruce Poston successfully argued prosecutors had failed to
link him to the conspiracy.

The precedent-setting case stemmed from a November 2002 search at a
ramshackle trailer and shed owned by Ernie Miller, who was convicted
Tuesday along with his wife, Mary Miller; his stepdaughter, Samantha
Moreno; and family friend, Richard "Rambo" Ramsey.

The Monroe County Sheriff's Department had been investigating the clan for
more than a year, according to testimony.

On Nov. 27, 2002, the agency sent in deputies armed with a search warrant
and discovered a "working lab" in the shed with a batch of the drug brewing
on a hot plate, Theodore has said.

Brooks outlined each of the four defendants' roles in the conspiracy in his
closing arguments Tuesday. Ernie Miller, he said, was the leader, while
Mary Miller supplied materials to make the drug and doled out the finished
product to meth users.

Moreno was the chief materials supplier, using her employee discount at the
Wal-Mart where she worked to get the ordinary household products used to
brew the drug, he said. Ramsey was "the cook," Brooks said.

Defense attorneys contended prosecutors were trying to build a conspiracy
case where none existed. Their clients, the attorneys argued, were a ragtag
bunch of meth users, not drug barons.

"Here sits the grand mogul of the methamphetamine empire of Monroe County,"
attorney Roland Cowden said in a mocking tone as he pointed to Ernie
Miller. "We're talking about country people. We're talking about people who
are uneducated, and they get along the best they can."

Attorney Beth Ford told jurors Mary Miller was a victim of meth addiction
and bad taste.

"She chose the wrong spouse," Ford said.

Attorney James Varner contended Ramsey "wasn't even there" and had been
misidentified by a deputy. Moreno's attorney, Kenneth Irvine, argued his
client was being prosecuted for buying cold medicine, paint thinner and
peroxide.

"Buying things that are perfectly legal shouldn't send you to jail," he said.