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motaman
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Man Gets 30 Years for Selling Iodine
#5777121 - 06/21/06 04:39 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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http://www.examiner.com/a-152201~Man_Gets_30_Years_for_Selling_Iodine.html
Man Gets 30 Years for Selling Iodine
PDF | Email By BILL POOVEY, The Associated Press Jun 16, 2006 4:58 PM (5 days ago) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - A garden center owner was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison Friday for selling iodine used to make methamphetamine in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama.
Joseph Swafford, 62, also must forfeit his business, Broadway Home and Garden Center, to the government. He declined to comment at his sentencing.
A jury in March convicted Swafford and his business of conspiring to aid illegal drug-making by selling iodine to customers who used it to make methamphetamine. He was not accused of making the drug.
U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier said the 30-year sentence would hopefully "deter those who might be tempted to make the same bad choice you made."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Perry Piper said the three-year investigation included an agent warning Swafford to be on guard against selling iodine to those who could be using it to make the drug.
Collier said evidence showed Swafford sold enough iodine - more than 2,500 gallons of liquid iodine and almost 3,000 pounds of iodine flakes and pellets - to manufacture more than 400 kilograms of meth.
Officials said Swafford's profits from selling iodine exceeded $750,000.
Swafford's attorney, Howell Clements, said at the trial that his client had nothing to do with making methamphetamine and never tried to hide his sales of iodine.
Methamphetamine is typically cooked from a recipe that includes toxic household and workplace products, such as iodine, and cold medicine containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine.
-------------------- http://heffter.org
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SuperD
Cacti junky


Registered: 10/05/03
Posts: 6,648
Loc: The bridgesii bridge
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Re: Man Gets 30 Years for Selling Iodine [Re: motaman]
#5778011 - 06/21/06 08:23 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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<<Collier said evidence showed Swafford sold enough iodine - more than 2,500 gallons of liquid iodine and almost 3,000 pounds of iodine flakes and pellets - to manufacture more than 400 kilograms of meth.>>
Drop in the bucket. Mexican labs produce that in a matter of days/weeks. I wonder if they even had solid proof it was being used to make meth, or if he was just picked out because he sold such a vast quantity of the chemical..
--------------------
   D Manoa said: I need to stop spending all my money on plants and take up a cheaper hobby, like heroin. Looking for Rauhocereus riosaniensis seeds or live specimen(s), me if you have any for trade
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero


Registered: 04/27/01
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Re: Man Gets 30 Years for Selling Iodine [Re: SuperD]
#5779573 - 06/22/06 05:04 AM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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Damn. I bought a pound of iodine when I was in high school from the pharamacy down the road. Of course, I was making ... well, I wasn't making drugs... It is amazing how much times have changed. Go from a high school kid with an extra fifteen bucks can buy a pound of iodine over the counter to spending thirty years in jail for the same thing in just a few decades.
> of if he was just picked out because he sold such a vast quantity of the chemical
I would pick this one. Make an example to anybody that might be selling scientific equipment or chemicals: If the stuff you sell can be used to do something that the government doesn't like, then you will go to prison even if what you are doing is not illegal.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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CptnGarden
fuck this site
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Re: Man Gets 30 Years for Selling Iodine [Re: Seuss]
#5780123 - 06/22/06 10:55 AM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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this is bullshit. fuck the system.
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dedjam
Electro Penguin



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Re: Man Gets 30 Years for Selling Iodine [Re: CptnGarden]
#5780435 - 06/22/06 01:04 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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so walmart and walgreens have been selling cold medicine to people for years? When is the government going to seize those stores and arrest their owners? I mean, they sell a product that can be used to make meth...obviously they are criminals too...
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Schwip
Never sleeps.


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Re: Man Gets 30 Years for Selling Iodine [Re: dedjam]
#5780972 - 06/22/06 04:17 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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not quite the same as this gopen.
anyone know what appliciations iodine has when applied to gardening?
were these private sales? or right off the shelf?
there may well be alot more to this story than what this little blurb tells us
-------------------- -------------------------------- " If the sky were to suddenly open up there would be no law. There would be no rule. There would only be you and your memories... the choices you've made, and the people you've touched. If this world were to end there would only be you and him and no-one else. " .............. "MAN! You know there aint no such thing as left over crack!"
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demiu5
humans, lol


Registered: 08/18/05
Posts: 43,948
Loc: the popcorn stadium
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Re: Man Gets 30 Years for Selling Iodine [Re: motaman]
#5780996 - 06/22/06 04:27 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Assistant U.S. Attorney Perry Piper said the three-year investigation included an agent warning Swafford to be on guard against selling iodine to those who could be using it to make the drug.
Quote:
Swafford's attorney, Howell Clements, said at the trial that his client had nothing to do with making methamphetamine and never tried to hide his sales of iodine.
So, if someone from the gov't tells you to watch out who you're selling a product to, and you run a store that naturally sells this product anyways, and you keep selling the product and record all that is sold (and pay all necessary taxes), you go to jail?
Plus, a 3 year investigation...you would think they would have better evidence. It doesn't say he knowingly sold it to those making meth. Did they bust people who said they got it from him? Did these people tell him they were making meth (very unlikely)?
I'd also love to see how the records of his iodine sales compared to these last 3 years which were investigated. Selling $750,000 worth of one product, especially if you are a business with a large and trusting customer base, is not unheard of.
I really think this is ridiculous, but I'd like to see more information before coming to a conclusion.
-------------------- channel your inner Larry David
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motaman
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Registered: 12/18/02
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Former Assessor Gets 30 Years [Re: motaman]
#5781015 - 06/22/06 04:33 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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http://www.dadesentinel.com/062106-2.htm
Former Assessor Gets 30 Years
From staff/wire reports
A former Dade tax board member got 30 years for drug charges.
Joseph Swafford was sentenced to federal prison for selling iodine to make methamphetamine on Friday in Chattanooga.
The garden center owner was convicted of selling materials used to make methamphetamine in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama and was given the lengthy term by a judge who said he hopes the penalty shows such harmful greed has a high price.
Swafford is the former chairman of the Dade County Board of Tax Assessors, having served during the mid-1990s. Specific records of his term on the board were not readily available, though a 1996 Dade County Superior Court case shows that he protested but was ejected from the board by court order after suing Dade County Commission for suspending and removing him from the appointed position.
Swafford, 62, was escorted from the courtroom after declining to comment at his Friday sentencing, which also included forfeiting his family business, Broadway Home and Garden Center, to the government.
Swafford's attorney had asked U.S. District Judge Curtis L. Collier for a 10-year sentence.
A jury in March convicted Swafford on all 40 counts of an indictment that charged him and his business with conspiring to aid illegal drug-making by selling iodine to customers who used it to make meth, an addictive stimulant. Swafford was not accused of making the drug.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Perry Piper said the three-year investigation included an agent warning Swafford to be on guard against selling iodine that could be used to make the drug.
Collier cited the scale of Swafford's case, saying such sale of a meth ingredient was unprecedented in East Tennessee.
He said evidence showed Swafford sold enough iodine, more than 2,500 gallons of liquid iodine and almost 3,000 pounds of iodine flakes and pellets, to manufacture more than 400 kilograms of meth, enough to supply "every human being" in southeastern Tennessee and some counties in surrounding states.
Collier said the 30-year sentence would hopefully "deter those who might be tempted to make the same bad choice you made."
Swafford's attorney, Howell Clements, said at the trial that his client had nothing to do with making methamphetamine and never tried to hide his sales of iodine. Clements compared the government's charges to telling a liquor store owner you "can't sell to somebody you reasonably think is going to get drunk."
"If you ask all these questions you are going to be out of business," Clements said in closing arguments.
Prosecutors said Swafford would only accept cash when selling iodine, commonly used as a disinfectant and sometimes used as a remedy for thrush in livestock.
Hamilton County Sheriff's Department Lt. Tom Farmer said he personally talked to Swafford in October 2001 about methamphetamine cooks using iodine and advised him, "You can get yourself in trouble."
Farmer said Swafford then told him, "I don't even sell the stuff."
Methamphetamine is typically cooked from a recipe that includes toxic household and workplace products, such as iodine, and cold medicine containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine. The clandestine labs, sometimes set up in kitchens, are potentially explosive and produce toxic vapors. Government evidence in the trial included testimony by convicted meth cooks who said they purchased iodine at Swafford's store.
Prosecutors have said the investigation took three years because agents were building their case. At least two iodine purchasers who assisted prosecutors received reduced sentences.
-------------------- http://heffter.org
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motaman
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Joe Swafford Gets 30 Years In Prison For Supplying Meth Dealers [Re: motaman]
#5781022 - 06/22/06 04:35 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_87627.asp
Joe Swafford Gets 30 Years In Prison For Supplying Meth Dealers posted June 16, 2006
Federal Judge Curtis Collier on Friday morning sentenced former Broadway Home and Garden Center owner Joe Swafford to 30 years in prison for supplying a key ingredient to meth dealers.
Saying the 62-year-old Swafford was motivated by "simple greed," Judge Collier said he was the leading iodine supplier to meth dealers in Tennessee and several other states.
Swafford declined to make a statement prior to announcement of the sentence. Later in the hearing, he said he would like the Witt, Gaither firm to represent him on appeal. Judge Collier said that would be up to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Swafford turned and waved to his wife, Kay, as he was led away in handcuffs.
His business on South Broad Street was forfeited to the government.
Judge Collier said Swafford "made a calculated decision" to begin supplying iodine to meth dealers after his business began to fail.
He said the decision "caused immeasurable damage" to many people.
Judge Collier said over several years Swafford supplied enough iodine to produce meth "for every man, woman and child in Southeast Tennessee and several surrounding counties."
He said Swafford "chose to exploit a lucrative new market."
He stated, "You chose the path of profit and crime."
Judge Collier said some members of the jury who convicted him on all counts were outraged that the government had not arrested him sooner than it did.
-------------------- http://heffter.org
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demiu5
humans, lol


Registered: 08/18/05
Posts: 43,948
Loc: the popcorn stadium
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Re: Joe Swafford Gets 30 Years In Prison For Supplying Meth Dealers [Re: motaman]
#5781087 - 06/22/06 04:55 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Prosecutors said Swafford would only accept cash when selling iodine...
That does look suspicious.
Quote:
Swafford's attorney, Howell Clements, said at the trial that his client had nothing to do with making methamphetamine and never tried to hide his sales of iodine.
and
Quote:
Hamilton County Sheriff's Department Lt. Tom Farmer said he personally talked to Swafford in October 2001 about methamphetamine cooks using iodine and advised him, "You can get yourself in trouble."
Farmer said Swafford then told him, "I don't even sell the stuff."
Hmmm...conflicting reports. I'd still like to see previous years sale records of the iodine.
-------------------- channel your inner Larry David
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