Crime & Safety
Two St. Charles Residents Charged in Two-Year DEA Investigation into Meth Ring
The two-year investigation brought charges against 30 people in St. Louis and St. Charles counties.
Two St. Charles residents were among those charged as a result of a two-year U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency investigation into methamphetamine production in St. Louis County. The arrests and charges were mostly in North and Northwest St. Louis County.
Michael L. Southard, 48, of the 3700 block of Runnymede Lane in St. Charles, was charged with manufacturing a controlled substance, possessing drug-related items with the intent to make meth,
DEA agents reported that Southard admitted to making meth more than 100 times between Dec. 1, 2009 through June 29, 2011. During that time, he bought more than 20 grams of pseudoephedrine to use in making meth, according to the DEA report.
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He was arrested June 19, 2011 on active warrants, and police said he threw a bag out of his car window that contained meth residue.
Southard previously was sentenced to 10 years in prison by the St. Charles County Circuit Court on separate charges of three counts of distributing or manufacturing a controlled substance and three counts of possessing a controlled substance. He is in prison at the Northeast Correctional Center in Bowling Green.
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Erin Wells, 34, of the 3700 block of Burr Street in St. Charles, was charged with possessing a controlled substance and possessing a controlled substance.
DEA agents said Wells was identified by multiple people as a well known pseudoephedrine pill collector and meth cook.
Agents said she had methamphetamine in a motel room on Dec. 28, 2011.
Bail for Wells was set at $50,000.
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