LAWFUEL – The Legal Newswire – A South Los Angeles man was sentenced this afternoon to 360 months in federal prison for allowing his brother to operate in his backyard the largest PCP lab ever discovered in the Southland.
Bobby Lee Thompson, 40, was sentenced by United States District Judge Audrey B. Collins, who found that Thompson’s “very serious” crimes “posed a risk of harm to human life.” The court stated it also relied on Thompson’s criminal history, including four prior felonies, in concluding that a 360-month sentence was reasonable.
In February, following a four-day trial, Thompson was found guilty following a four-day trial of conspiracy to distribute phencyclidine (PCP), maintaining a drug-involved premises, possession of PCP with intent to distribute, three counts of illegal possession of a listed chemical, possession of equipment for manufacturing a controlled substance, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The case stemmed from a February 2003 seizure in which federal agents recovered approximately five gallons – or more than 30 pounds – of phencyclidine (PCP), approximately 20 pounds of PCC crystals (an earlier stage of PCP), and more than 1,000 pounds of various chemicals used to make PCP in the back yard of defendant’s residence. The evidence at trial showed that Thompson allowed his brother, co-defendant Leonard Brown, to manufacture and store PCP at his residence, where Thompson’s two young children lived.
Leonard Brown, 42, of Lakewood, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute PCP and was sentenced by Judge Collins in March to 212 months in prison. A third defendant, Michael Johnson, 42, of Glen Heights, Texas, also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to four years in prison.
In addition to the drug lab, the jury in Thompson’s case determined that he also possessed .357-caliber magnum revolver in his bedroom and a 12-gauge shotgun in another bedroom of the residence, which he was forbidden to possess because he is a previously convicted felon.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration.
CONTACT: Assistant United States Attorney Shannon P. Ryan
Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force
(213) 894-4586
Release No. 07-100
