Dudley farmer has first court appearance

A Dudley, Mo., farmer made his first appearance in federal court Tuesday after he was indicted on charges related to the manufacture of methamphetamine.

John David Jackson, 48, made his initial appearance in Cape Girardeau before U.S. Magistrate Judge Lewis Blanton on the two-count indictment, according to Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Abbie Crites-Leoni.

Blanton ordered Jackson to appear at 11 a.m. Monday for a detention hearing, Crites-Leoni said. Bond may be set at that time.

The indictment against Jackson had been suppressed and the judge unsealed it after Jackson's arrest.

It says on Feb. 25 in Stoddard County, Jackson allegedly "knowing and intentionally possessed a list I chemical, pseudoephedrine, knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that the pseudoephedrine would be used to manufacture methamphetamine..."

If convicted, Jackson faces a punishment range of not more than 20 years imprisonment and/or not more than a $250,000 fine followed by at least a three-year period of supervised release, Crites-Leoni said.

According to earlier reports, Jackson was allegedly in possession of more than 3,000 pseudoephedrine pills at the time of his arrest.

"The investigation revealed that he was in the market and was trying to acquire a number of pseudoephedrine pills for the manufacture of methamphetamine by a third party,î explained Stoddard County Deputy Dennis Fowler who is assigned to the SEMO Drug Task Force.

The indictment further alleges in Count II that on the same date, Jackson allegedly ìknowingly and intentionally distributed a chemical, anhydrous ammonia, which may be used to manufacture a controlled substance, knowing, intending or having reasonable cause to believe that the anhydrous ammonia would be used to manufacture a controlled substance..."

If convicted of this count, Jackson faces a punishment range of not more than 10 years in imprisonment and/or a fine of not more than $30,000 followed not more than three years of supervised release, according to Crites-Leoni.

"For at least two years weíve been getting pretty significant information" about Jackson being an alleged ìdistributor of anhydrous ammonia," Fowler earlier explained. ìWe donít believe heís a cook. ... Basically, he was selling it for cash."

At this time, Fowler said, they believe Jackson was allegedly selling primarily to cooks in Stoddard and Butler counties.

Jackson was allegedly selling a 20-pound barbecue grill tank of anhydrous for $350 and a 100-pound liquid propane tank for $2,000, Fowler said.

Because officers knew Jackson was allegedly "in the business and had been, in the past, providing methamphetamine cooks with anhydrous ammonia, we worked out a tradeî on Feb. 25, which culminated in the execution of a search warrant at his Highway F residence, Fowler said.

A search of the house and outbuildings, led to the seizure of a 300-gallon anhydrous ammonia tank in a shed behind the house and more than 3,000 pseudoephedrine pills. The tank was reportedly about half full at that time.

As a farmer, Jackson had a legitimate reason to purchase anhydrous ammonia; however, "most farmers do not keep anhydrous year round," Fowler explained. "They rent it in bulk on the trailer buggies and they return the buggies back to the distributor or co-op.

"It would be unusual to keep that amount of anhydrous on hand at this time of year."

Although Jackson isnít the first farmer charged with selling anhydrous ammonia at the state level, he is reportedly the first to face federal prosecution for the alleged crime.

He is the third area man recently indicted federally for possessing large quantities of pseudoephedrine pills.