Man charged after police find apparent meth-making materials

Posted 8/31/17

In James L. Miller’s North Hamilton Street residence, police reportedly found psychedelic mushrooms, parts of a marijuana plant and materials that they suspect were being used to make methamphetamine. They also found a jar that held a mixture of …

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Man charged after police find apparent meth-making materials

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What started as an attempt to check on a man’s well-being Sunday night turned into a drug bust for Powell police.

In James L. Miller’s North Hamilton Street residence, police reportedly found psychedelic mushrooms, parts of a marijuana plant and materials that they suspect were being used to make methamphetamine. They also found a jar that held a mixture of substances that, according to preliminarily testing, could be meth, Powell police say.

Miller, 30, has been charged with one felony count of possessing equipment with intent to engage in a clandestine laboratory operation, one felony count of possessing methamphetamine and a misdemeanor count of possessing marijuana.

Miller’s bond was set at $30,000 cash at a Tuesday morning court hearing in Cody; he remained in jail Wednesday.

Charging documents say the incident started around 9:40 p.m. Sunday, when someone reported that Miller had posted suicidal statements on Facebook and asked police to make sure he was OK.

Powell Police Sgt. Paul Sapp wrote in an affidavit that, when he and another officer arrived at Miller’s residence in the 400 block of North Hamilton Street, they could see a large bong sitting on a table. Miller tried to prevent the officers from coming in and alternated between being calm and being agitated that they were there, according to Sapp’s account. Miller also made statements about wanting to kill himself, the affidavit says.

“As we spoke with James [Miller] it was apparent that he was under the influence of some type of controlled substance,” Sapp wrote, adding that Miller “was not making any sense when he spoke.”

Police decided to take Miller to the Powell Valley Hospital Emergency Room against his will and wanted his mental health evaluated, Sapp wrote. However, hospital personnel said they didn’t have the staff to hold Miller and he was taken to jail, the affidavit says.

Meanwhile, officers obtained a search warrant for Miller’s house. Sapp says they later found a marijuana stem and six seeds inside a Ziploc-style bag, apparent psilocybin mushrooms, canning jars that police suspected were set up to grow mushrooms and an apparent distilling kit.

“While searching the kitchen, we located several items that appeared to be drug-related, but were unsure of what their purpose was,” Sapp added.

He says officers found several small tinfoil cups with a sweet-smelling burnt residue, several bowls with a thick, dark, sticky substance, bottles of Butane fuel, jugs of muriatic acid, bleach, ammonia and burnt matches. Other jars and bottles found throughout the house held “unknown liquids,” Sapp wrote.

In the fridge, officers reportedly found a few suspicious glass containers. One bottle held a mixture of a white powdery substance with a layer of liquid on top.

“It appeared to us that there were several components to a meth lab in the house,” and police requested assistance from the local Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation team, Sapp wrote.

They returned with testing supplies that indicated the liquid in the fridge might be methamphetamine.

“It was then decided to call the Hazmat unit to [complete] the processing of the scene, as it was apparent that it was a clandestine laboratory,” Sapp wrote. The hazmat team responded from Worland.

The bottle from the fridge and its contents weighed about a pound, the affidavit says. Court documents do not detail how much of that weight is suspected as being meth, but the charge alleges there was more than 3 grams, constituting a felony.

Miller indicated Tuesday that he wants to represent himself in court. A preliminary hearing was tentatively set for next week.

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