(Stillwater, Okla.) — A Yale woman — who was charged with a Drumright teenager with trafficking methamphetamine in April — was given a 10-year prison term Friday on a reduced charge of possessing substances with intent to make the illegal drug at the Dunkin Cemetery.
Rhonda Lynn Davis, 37, accepted a plea bargain Friday in her 2012 drug case and admitted that she had violated probation on 2009 drug and 2006 burglary charges.
Noting that Davis had previously been in the Payne County Drug Court program, District Judge Phillip Corley Friday urged her to seek treatment while she is in prison.
Davis’s co-defendant, Eric “Tom” Stump, now 20, remains in the Payne County Jail pending a July 18 preliminary hearing on the methamphetamine trafficking charge.
The pair were arrested near the Dunkin Cemetery last spring after a deputy “received information that Rhonda Davis and Eric (Tom) Stump were enroute to the Dunkin Cemetery to make meth,” Payne County Sheriff’s Deputy Dan Nack alleged in an affidavit.
“Upon turning into the short drive of the cemetery off Clay Road, I immediately saw a tan Malibu tucked into the trees at the dead-end of the drive.
“Immediately upon exiting my car, I smelled a thick, strong odor associated with an active methamphetamine lab,” the deputy wrote in his affidavit.
“I also observed one 20-ounce Coke bottle with two hoses affixed to the lid, rocky-type sediment within — sitting just in front of the car.
“I recognize this bottle from previous methamphetamine labs worked and investigated to be a HCL generator or commonly called a ‘gasser.’
“A few yards to the west of the car was one roll of paper towels, one bottle of sulfuric acid, two cannisters of Morton table salt, one bottle of Coleman camp fuel.
“Two lithium strips were beside the car, already peeled with the lithium missing. Approximately 10-15 yards beyond the gasser was one large Smart water bottle, with a white and black granular substance, and clear liquid which was steadily bubbling.
“I immediately recognized this to be an active methamphetamine lab in its early stages,” the deputy wrote in his affidavit.
Neither Davis nor Stump was near the car at the time, but a female pit-bull type dog was in the car and a woman’s purse “leading me to believe that the subjects were still nearby hiding or running,” the deputy wrote in his affidavit.
Learning that Stump had previously lived at a nearby trailer park, the deputy went there and learned that “Eric and Rhonda were there earlier, but had left,” Nack wrote in his affidavit.
About 10 minutes later, “I returned to the trailer park, observing two white males come through the yard with no shirts and grass all about their hair and pants — sweating and dirty.
“Both layed down on the ground with their hands out in front of my car before I exited,” the deputy wrote in his affidavit. One was a 15-year-old boy and the other was Stump, the affidavit said.
The deputy told Stump that he had found the car and had seen the lab, before asking where Davis was, the affidavit said.
Stump said “he met up with Rhonda earlier this date when she stated that she would take him to get him high. She said she knew a place to do the cook at.
“He stated that after arriving at the cemetery, she mixed up the bottle, which he described as a Smart water bottle. He states that she walked up around while cutting open the lithium batteries to remove the lithium.
“She used a pair of dykes (wire cutters) to peel the batteries. A pair of these were later found in the passenger door of the Malibu.
“Eric then states that after she mixed the bottle and activated it, she then told him to watch over it, which he states he did for approximately 10 minutes.
“When asked how long had it been since the lab was started prior to my original arrival, he stated about 10 minutes.
“Eric states that they were standing near the hood of his car when he saw me pull in. They then took off running to the east, then he and the juvenile cut south. After jumping the first fence, he states he no longer saw Rhonda running,” the affidavit alleged.
After Stump was arrested, the deputy returned back to the car and meth lab location, “then set up a better perimeter and started a more thorough search of the immediate woods, which is about 10 acres in size.
“Walking to the outer southeast corner, I observed a white female in a pink shirt lying in the grass. She stood up and was recognized to be Rhonda Davis. I placed her under arrest,” Nack wrote in his affidavit.
The clear liquid in the water bottle field-tested positive for methamphetamine with a weight exceeding 20 grams, the affidavit said.
The juvenile was transported to the Sheriff’s Office where he was later released to a relative, the affidavit said.
According to court records, Davis was convicted in 2009 of possession of methamphetamine and marijuana in Payne County, for which she received a 10-year suspended sentence contingent on her serving 30 days in jail — along with enrolling in and completing the Drug Court program.
Two years later, Davis was terminated from Payne County Drug Court for failing to abide by the rules and also owing $2,465 to Drug Court, according to a letter from Interim Executive Director Noel Bagwell.
Five months after her termination, Davis was ordered to serve 120 days in the Payne County Jail for violating her probation in that drug case, court records show.
***
