Cushing Trio Charged with Trafficking Meth
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Cushing woman who is alleged to have possessed substances with intent to manufacture methamphetamine at her residence in the 6500 block of E. 9th Street has been ordered to appear in court on Wednesday with an attorney.
Tammie Sue Gutierrez, 38, remains held on $100,000 bail in the Payne County Jail, but her co-defendants, Jason Randall Reese, 35, and his sister, Melissa D. Ashcraft, 41, are not yet in custody, a sheriff’s spokesman told KUSH Tuesday.
The Cushing trio are also charged with trafficking methamphetamine — along with possession of a drug without a tax stamp, a rifle during the commission of a crime, marijuana and drug paraphernalia.
If convicted of all six counts, each could be given two life prison terms plus nine years and $272,000 in fines, according to the charges filed by prosecutor Jack Bowyer last week.
Gutierrez, also known by the surname Frazier, was arrested about 10:45 p.m. Feb. 3, at her residence by Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy Daniel Nack, who had obtained a warrant to search the property including a shop building and a singlewide trailer, his affidavit said.
Gutierrez and Reese lived in the main house with their 9-month-old baby girl, while Ashcraft slept on a couch in the singlewide where his mother, who is in a wheelchair, also lives, the affidavit said.
When the deputy arrived on the property and knocked at the main house, “Tammie advised that Jason had just left,” according to his affidavit.
Substances used to manufacture methamphetamine, including blister packs that had contained pseudoephedrine, lithium batteries containing lithium metal, an open cold pack containing ammonia nitrate, two open cans of drain opener containing sodium hydroxide, clear shot drain opener containing sulfuric acid, pseudoephedrine powder and a measuring cup containing methamphetamine residue were found on the property, the affidavit alleged.
“This deputy is trained and certified to investigate and dismantle clandestine methamphetamine labs. I recognize the two bottles in the shop to be used lab bottles, which produced methamphetamine,” Nack alleged in his affidavit.
“Furthermore, the liquid in the cabinet from the shop and on top of the refrigerator in the house are yielded from that process, and near being a completed methamphetamine product,” the deputy alleged in his affidavit.
“Reviewing the pseudoephedrine logs of Melissa, she purchases near her maximum limit each month, oftentimes getting rejected, with several similar dates as Jason, who also purchases near his maximum limits.
“Tammie Gutierrez likewise purchases near her maximum limit. When asked what became of the box she purchased on Jan. 29, 2012, Tammie advised that ‘Jason took it from her,"” the affidavit alleged.
“This deputy spoke by phone to Jason while conducting this search warrant. Jason advised that the shop belongs to his mom, and nothing in it is his.
“This deputy noted that his mother is in a wheelchair, not capable of accessing the shop.
“Tammie advised that Jason and Melissa spend most of their time in the shop. Neither Jason or Melissa returned home, while I was at this location,” Nack noted in his affidavit.
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