WILLMAR -- Matthew David Hood, 32, of New London, pleaded guilty Monday to a felony charge of possessing methamphetamine precursors with intent to manufacture.
As part of a plea agreement entered in Kandiyohi County District Court, charges of first-degree manufacture of methamphetamine, conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and conspiracy to possess the precursors with intent to manufacture methamphetamine will be dismissed.
Hood will not serve any more jail time in the case. The plea came a day before Hood was scheduled for a one-day jury trial.
Hood is one of three men charged after an early morning incident Aug. 1 in which law enforcement officers discovered a mobile methamphetamine lab in a car in Svea. Hood and a 24-year-old Lake Lillian man, who has an active warrant for his arrest, ran from the vehicle. Jason Michael Larson, 34, of Appleton, was detained by sheriff's deputies. A jury trial, on the same precursor possession and drug conspiracy charges, is scheduled Dec. 13 for Larson.
According to court documents, a county sheriff's deputy discovered a car parked between two semis while on routine patrol around 2:40 a.m. in Svea.
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Deputies used the county K-9 unit to check the car and the dog signaled that he detected something in the door and the trunk.
Deputies and CEE-VI Drug Task Force agents searched the car and found numerous items used to manufacture methamphetamine, including ephedrine pills, muriatic acid, brake fluid, a coffee pot and grinder, hot plate and coffee filters. They also discovered a rifle, a meth pipe, a digital scale, baggies and a bag of marijuana.
During questioning after his arrest, Larson told officers that he had cooked meth five times since March and that the men were on their way to get anhydrous ammonia to cook another batch when they were apprehended. A warrant was issued for Hood on Aug. 10, and he was arraigned Aug. 15. He will be sentenced Jan. 9.
