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Kesey Drops Defense in Drug Charge

SAN FRANCISCO (AP)—Novelist Ken Kesey pleaded no defense Tuesday [May 2, 1967] to a reduced narcotics charge relating to his arrest last year on a San Francisco rooftop. Kesey was charged with being in a place where a narcotic was being unlawfully smoked. A 19 year-old girl who was with Kesey when he was arrested said at an earlier trial she was smoking her own marijuana and he was unaware of it. Two previous trials of Kesey on charges of illegal possession of marijuana ended in hung juries Police testified that Kesey threw away a small bag containing marijuana just before they arrested him. Kesey, who has been spending most of his spare time in his hometown of Springfield recently, was ordered to appear in San Francisco for sentencing June 5.


(Kesey pleads guilty Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), 03 May 1967, Wed, Page 10)

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AROUND THE NATION; 2 in San Francisco Sentenced in LSD Case
Reuter
Published: May 4, 1986

SAN FRANCISCO, May 3— A San Francisco physician and his wife have been sentenced to prison in a case that investigators said involved about 1.6 million doses of the hallucinogenic drug LSD.

Federal agents said the couple headed a ring that distributed about a fifth of the nation's illegal supply of LSD.

The doctor, Paul Stepak, 40 years old, was sentenced Friday [May 2, 1986] to seven years in prison and his wife, Diane, 50, was given a 10 year sentence. They pleaded guilty last month to one count each of distributing the drug.


(http://www.nytimes.com)






Announce Major LSD Bust
AP , Associated Press
Aug. 16, 1985 9:49 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Drug agents said Friday they have arrested leaders of a huge LSD ring that has operated since the late 1960s and distributed as much as one-fifth of the nation's supply of the hallucinogenic drug.

LSD from the ring has been found from Hawaii to New England, said U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency spokesman Dennis Petrotta. The DEA issued a statement saying the breakup of the ring ''will have a significant impact on the availability of LSD.''

The ring produced ''an extremely high quality of LSD, using formulas believed available only to a very few individuals,'' the agency said.

The DEA's statement about the scope of the ring contrasted, however, with a more modest statement by a DEA agent in support of the charges filed initially against four people. The agent made no apparent reference to $5 million worth of drugs that the DEA said were seized Thursday in San Francisco, Sausalito and Sebastopol.

Three people arrested Thursday were identified as Diane Stepak, 49, of San Francisco; Bernard Hassall, 43, of Sebastopol, and Glen McKay, 36, of Sausalito.

The fourth person, Mrs. Stepak's husband, Paul, a resident in occupational medicine at a San Francisco hospital, turned himself in Friday.

The DEA said the Stepaks and Hassall were the ringleaders and that more arrests were expected.

U.S. Magistrate Wayne Brazil ordered all four held until Wednesday, when he will rule on a government request to continue holding them without bail.

The hearing revealed a number of discrepancies in the statement the DEA distributed initially to reporters, including its descriptions of Stepak as a plastic surgeon and his wife as the owner of a clothing store, which a defense lawyer said had shut down a year ago.

In addition, the DEA initially said all four were being charged with distribution and conspiracy to distribute more than 300,000 dosage units of LSD in the last six months. But the charges filed Friday were on a much lower scale, though Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Yamaguchi said he expects additional charges later.

A conspiracy charge was filed only against McKay, related to an alleged agreement with Hassall to sell a small amount of LSD, according to a sworn statement by DEA Agent Thomas Ma.

All four were charged with possession of narcotics with intent to distribute, but in three of the cases the amounts cited by the DEA agent were modest: six dosage units of LSD found in McKay's houseboat, and 25.5 grams of crystal LSD and 50 grams of lysergic acid found at the Stepaks' home. Ma said ''large quantities'' of LSD and processing equipment were found at Hassall's home.

There was no reference in the charges to the amount of drugs that the DEA statement said were found in the course of the arrests: 1.6 million dosage units of LSD, 8.8 pounds of high-grade marijuana and 1.5 pounds of cocaine.

The maximum punishment for each charge is 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.


(http://www.apnewsarchive.com/)

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Ergocristine is an ergopeptine and one of the ergot alkaloids. As of February 24, 2010 Ergocrisine has been federally scheduled. Because of the existing Controlled Substance Act regulatory controls on the LSD precursors lysergic acid, lysergic acid amide, ergotamine, and ergonovine, clandestine laboratory operators have sought uncontrolled sources of precursor material for the production of LSD. This has led to the illicit utilization of the precursor chemical ergocristine as a direct substitute for ergotamine and ergonovine for the illicit production of LSD. In fact, the largest clandestine LSD laboratory ever, William Leonard Pickard and Clyde Apperson, that was seized by the DEA utilized ergocristine as the LSD precursor according to court documents.[citation needed]. Recipes documenting procedures for utilizing ergocristine in LSD synthesis are easily found on the Internet.

The DEA determined that ergocristine was readily available from commercial chemical suppliers. DEA had identified at least three suppliers of ergocristine, of which one distributor is located domestically; the other two are based in Germany and the Czech Republic.


(https://en.wikipedia.org)




SUMMARY: This rulemaking finalizes a February 24, 2010, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in which DEA proposed to control the chemical precursor ergocristine as a List I chemical under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Clandestine laboratories are using this chemical as a substitute for the List I chemicals ergotamine and ergonovine to illicitly manufacture the schedule I controlled substance lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). This rule is being finalized as proposed. Therefore, handlers of ergocristine shall be subject to the chemical regulatory provisions of the CSA and its implementing regulations. This rulemaking does not establish a threshold for domestic and international transactions of ergocristine. As such, all transactions involving ergocristine, regardless of size, shall be regulated.

This rulemaking also specifies that chemical mixtures containing ergocristine will not be exempt from regulatory requirements at any concentration. Therefore, all transactions of chemical mixtures containing any quantity of ergocristine shall be regulated and subject to control under the CSA.

DATES: This rulemaking becomes effective May 2, 2011. Persons seeking registration must apply on or before May 2, 2011 to continue their business pending final action by DEA on their application.


(DEA website)

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Name: DENNIS EVAN INGHAM
Register Number: 84911-012
Age: 77
Race: White
Sex: Male
Released On: 05/02/2012


(https://www.bop.gov)

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