A Bradford man who conspired with others to operate a methamphetamine lab in January 2018 was found guilty by a jury on Thursday.
Corry M. Robinson, 35, is the last of four defendants convicted in 2018 in a McKean County meth ring. The other three have entered guilty pleas and were sentenced.
According to District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer, on Thursday, after a three-day trial in McKean County Court in Smethport, a jury found Robinson guilty of the following charges: conspiracy to manufacture over 1,000 grams of meth, a felony; conspiracy to possess precursor chemicals with the intent to manufacture meth, felony; conspiracy risking a catastrophe, a third-degree felony; conspiracy to operate a meth lab, a felony; and recklessly endangering another person, a second-degree misdemeanor.
He was acquitted of one count of possession of precursors, she said.
Shaffer prosecuted the case, and St. Marys attorney Christopher Martini represented Robinson.
“The case was initiated by Bradford City Police following a home visit by an agent with State Parole to a residence on East Main Street,” Shaffer stated. “Following identification of suspected one-pot meth labs at the residence in Bradford, agents with the Attorney General’s Office and the PA State Police Clandestine Lab Team responded.”
She added that emergency personnel and firefighters assisted on scene “due to the volatility of methamphetamine.”
On Jan. 24, 2018, Robinson was arrested along with Joshua R. Safford, 37, of Port Allegany, and Crystal E. Robinson, 42, of Bradford, for a meth lab in the lower apartment at 246 E. Main St., Bradford.
The state parole agent had stopped at the home to check on Corry Robinson’s wellbeing, as Robinson was on state parole at the time, court records stated. The parole agent entered to find Safford — as well as a “shake and bake” meth lab.
Court records filed at the time indicated the Robinsons were purchasing ephedrine for Safford, who was the “cook.”
The Robinsons were living in the East Main Street apartment where the meth lab was located. Court records indicated that a woman and child were living in another apartment in the building, too, and had to be removed for safety reasons.
Also on Jan. 24, detectives with the McKean County Drug Task Force searched the Smethport apartment of Mindy L. Nichols, 34, of Smethport, who was also accused of purchasing ephedrine for Safford, as well as of allowing meth to be cooked at her home, court records filed at the time of her arrest indicated.
Safford was sentenced to one to two years in state prison, Nichols to 22 to 44 months in state prison and Crystal Robinson to nine days to 23½ months in the McKean County Jail.
No sentencing date was available for Corry Robinson.
These were not the only meth-related cases filed last year in McKean County.
As Shaffer explained, “Methamphetamine cases increased significantly in our county in 2018. This is one of several cases that were investigated during that time.”
She encouraged the public to assist law enforcement, saying, “If anyone suspects illegal drug activity, please contact the McKean County Drug Task Force at the District Attorney’s Office by email at MCDTFtip@gmail.com.”
