Federal court briefs 1/28/04

Illinois women plead guilty to meth charges

Wanda Bullock, 40, and Farel Holder, 29, both of Southern Illinois, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine. They appeared before U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber in Cape Girardeau. Each faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing was set for April 26. In their pleas, the women admitted that on July 24 they drove to various stores in Sikeston, Mo., and Cairo, Ill., to buy pseudoephedrine pills. They planned to sell the pills to a meth cook for $20 per box. A tip from a store employee led to an officer asking Holder for permission to search her car. Inside were 532 pills.

Caruthersville man sentenced for crack

Scott Fields, 34, of Caruthers-ville, Mo., was sentenced to 70 months in prison Monday in federal court for selling more than five grams of cocaine base, or crack. He appeared before U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber in Cape Girardeau. Fields pleaded guilty in October, admitting that he sold 6.31 grams of crack to an undercover officer for $240 in June.

Syrian man sentenced on meth-related charges

Fayez Abazid, 41, of Detroit, Mich., Las Vegas, Nev., and Dar'a, Syria, was sentenced to 175 months in prison Monday in federal court for possession of pseudoephedrine. Upon release, Abazid will be placed on two years of supervised release. He previously admitted that on Aug. 24 he paid an individual $72,000 for about 714,000 60-milligram strength pseudoephedrine pills. As part of the plea, Abazid forfeited $181,950, which included the drug sale money and cash found in his rental van, inside a bag and on his person.

-- From staff reports