SALINE CO.—A Harrisburg couple face drug charges.
Authorities say a Harrisburg woman and her boyfriend have been sentenced to prison after she got caught stealing starter fluid to help make meth.
According to court documents, on April 13, Megan Rae Mitchell, 26, of 1105 South Roosevelt, Harrisburg, entered into the Knapp Mart Citgo store, located at 614 S. Commercial St., Harrisburg and walked out with a can of starter fluid without bothering to pay for them.
When stopped and confronted by officers she said that she had been offered $60 for the $3.59 can of starter fluid by Gene Hughes to help make meth.
She had been instructed to go to 27 ½ Walnut St., and they would meet there.
Officers said when she arrived she brought in a plastic bag with two cans of starter fluid, one she stole and one purchased by her boyfriend Brandon Ragain, two bags of coffee filters and numerous plastic bags.
She was also found to be in possession of two used syringes and needles and one metal spoon used to heat up the drug to introduce it into the body.
Mitchell told officers she was going to help manufacture the finished product [meth].
After obtaining a consent to search, officers also found a small Zip-Lock bag that contained a smaller bag with meth inside of it, digital scales and two baggies of “cutting material.”
Mitchell was booked on charges of Retail Theft and Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Manufacturing Materials.
Ragain was charged with one count each of Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Manufacturing Materials, Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine less than five grams and Unlawful Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.
Both Mitchell and Ragain pled guilty to the meth manufacturing material charge were both sentenced to five years in the Illinois Department of Corrections and ordered to pay $397 each in fines and fees.
Charged with rolling “shake n bake”
On Monday, April 22, at approximately 6:56 p.m., officer Brent Davis was westbound on Walnut St., near Main St., when he spotted a maroon Ford pickup truck suspected earlier in the week to have been driven by Destry Mitchell, 48, of 803 North Webster St., Harrisburg, whose driver’s license is revoked.
As Davis was trying to catch up with the truck it turned abruptly onto Webster St. and shortly thereafter Davis initiated a traffic stop.
The driver, identified as Jeremy Mitchell, 25, of Harrisburg, couldn’t locate his license or insurance card.
He did check out with dispatch as having a valid license but that was about the time Davis and officer Kenny Shires, who arrived on scene, “detected a strong chemical odor.”
While officer Davis was talking to the passenger, identified as Destry Mitchell, he spotted a Powerade bottle that contained a clear liquid with white and black particles floating in it.
The smell, combined with the Powerade bottle, caused officers to suspect a “shake n bake” meth lab and they ordered both men out of the vehicle.
Once confirmed, both men were taken into custody and booked into the county jail on charges of Unlawful Methamphetamine Manufacturing 100-400 grams, Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Precursors less than 15 grams, Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine Manufacture Materials and Unlawful Possession of Methamphetamine less than five grams.
Cash bond in the cases has been set at $3,000 each.