A Toano man accused of operating a mobile meth lab out of a minivan will serve no jail time after taking a plea deal in York-Poquoson General District Court Wednesday morning.
The deal dropped three felony charges against Robert Copley, 37, which included one count of possession of methamphetamine, one count of conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and one count of manufacturing methamphetamine.
The judge found him guilty of one misdemeanor charge of possession of marijuana.
Copley was sentenced to 12 months in jail with all time suspended, two years of unsupervised probation and six months with a suspended driver’s license.
A second person involved in the case, Jennifer Kendrick, 27, of Norfolk, will face a higher court after charges against her were certified to circuit court Wednesday morning. She will face two felony charges of possession of methamphetamine and conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. Prosecutors dropped a charge of manufacture methamphetamine against Kendrick.
Kendrick and Copley were charged by York County investigators after they were involved in an Oct. 6 crash on Route 17 in York County, police have said.
According to a York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office press release, police responded to a two-car crash on Route 17 and noticed odors coming from one of the vehicles that were consistent with the manufacture of methamphetamine.
“Tri-River Narcotics Task Force, clandestine lab personnel, located an active meth lab within the vehicle,” York Capt. Troy Lyons said Oct. 6. “They secured evidence and made the lab safe. They recovered items and chemicals consistent with the production of methamphetamine. They also recovered a container that was in the process of producing meth.”
Deputies secured the scene and requested assistance from the York County Fire and Life Safety Hazmat team and the Tri-Rivers Narcotics Task Force, the release stated.
The cleanup took approximately three hours, Lyons said.
The case against Kendrick will be heard by a grand jury on May 23 and scheduled for trial at that time.
WYDaily archives were used in this article.
Sarah Fearing may be reached at [email protected].
