WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION CASES IN WATAUGA COUNTY FIRST IN NATION

Miles away from Iraq and Afghanistan, several weapons of mass
destruction cases are awaiting trial here in Watauga County.

According to a July 17 press release from the office of District
Attorney Jerry Wilson, his office is now charging individuals found
with clandestine (methamphetamine) laboratories with the B1 felony of
Unlawful Manufacture, Assembly, Possession, Storage, Transportation,
Sale, Purchase, Delivery, or Acquisition of a Nuclear, Biological, or
Chemical Weapon of Mass Destruction in violation of North Carolina
General Statute 14-288.21.

This is in response to the growing number of methamphetamine
laboratories in this district, namely Watauga County, the press
release said.

In its press release, the district attorney's office said that the
existing statutes for dealing with methamphetamine laboratories are
only class H felonies, which carry a maximum sentence of 30 months in
jail. "The current statute is woefully insufficient to address the
epidemic of clandestine methamphetamine laboratories that Watauga
County is experiencing," the press release said.

Assistant District Attorney Charles Byrd said that out of
approximately 100 laboratories found in North Carolina this year, 28
have been found in Watauga County.

Byrd said that so far there are 8-15 cases in Watauga County seeking
the weapons of mass destruction charge. If there are convictions in
these cases, the punishment will range from a minimum of 12 years in
prison to a life sentence, depending on the defendant's record, Byrd
said.

"It definitely will make the risk of manufacturing methamphetamine
greater and hopefully will deter others from engaging in that type of
activity," Byrd said. Byrd went on to say that he believes it will set
a precedent statewide, and other states will follow as well.

Vincent Gable is currently representing four of the defendants in
these cases. Watauga is the first county in the nation to charge
someone with this, he said.

Gable said the first trial is set for Dec. 8.

"[If there is a conviction] it would set a very bad precedent," Gable
said. "You're looking at a possibility of up to a life sentence on
this."

Ian Mance, a political science graduate student at Appalachian State
University and co-president of the campus American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU), said "DA Wilson is undermining the intent of the state
legislature, exploiting the national climate of fear for personal
political gain, and stretching the failed drug war to new, even more
outrageous limits."

"A conviction in this case would be historic," Mance said. "It would
essentially mean that under the government's newly expanded powers,
non-violent drug offenders could now face up to life imprisonment, if
prosecuted as domestic terrorists for crimes that previously would
have warranted relatively short sentences."

Mance said that students should be concerned "because this is
happening in our community. It's happening to people our age."

"It's offensive to our collective sense of justice to think that in
our country, people could get locked away forever for drug crimes. But
this is now a very real possibility."