Logansport man pleads guilty to dealing insecticide-laced methamphetamine
A Logansport man pled guilty in Cass Circuit Court Monday to dealing in methamphetamine, a level two felony, and to being a habitual offender.
Lonnie Pope Jr., 56, had been scheduled to begin a jury trial that morning but opted to admit to all charges in lieu of a trial, according to a press release from Cass County Prosecutor Noah Schafer.
Pope’s charges arise from an incident in March 2023 where officers of the Logansport Police Department initiated a traffic stop on him for illegal lane movement. During the traffic investigation, a police K9 was deployed and alerted officers of the presence of drugs in the front driver side fender and the front hood area of the vehicle.
K9 Krypto assisted officers in locating 222.09 grams of methamphetamine concealed inside the vehicle’s air filter. Over 100 grams were also located in a soda can with a false top and another large bag with over 80 grams was located near the can.
Officers also located other drug paraphernalia including a smoking device, several small bags and digital scales. Sgt. Detective John Rogers of the Cass County Drug Task Force estimated the street value of Pope’s methamphetamine to be approximately $16,650 to $22,200, the press release said.
In an interview with Pope following the traffic stop, he confessed to dealing large quantities of methamphetamine in Logansport. He informed officers that the unusually colored methamphetamine was “raid meth,” saying the darker color came from spraying the crystalline drugs with the pest spray of the same name.
According to the press release, an emerging drug practice involves misusing the active ingredients in insect killers, especially wasp spray, to get high. Users often combine it with methamphetamines by spraying it on or crystallizing it on hot metal sheets, or use it as a substitute for methamphetamines. They report that it produces a “rush,” feelings of déjà vu and hallucinatory spells.
“One of the hidden dangers of illegal drugs is that dealers add other substances to an already dangerous product, creating even more lethal cocktails. Street drugs can have baking soda, insecticide, borax, rat poison, animal supplements and all manner of other thing added to them,” Schafer said about the case in the press release. “And more and more drugs are laced with fentanyl, which is particularly deadly. Thanks to the Drug Task Force and the Logansport Police Department, Mr. Pope won’t be selling ‘raid meth’ or any other kind of illegal drug in Cass County for some time.”
In addition to admitting dealing methamphetamine, Pope also plead guilty to multiple prior felony convictions for forgery. He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Stephen Kitts II in Cass Circuit Court at 1 p.m. Aug. 22.
He faces 10 to 30 years in the Indiana Department of Correction for the meth conviction and an additional 6 to 20 years as a habitual offender.
