A Smethport woman is in McKean County Jail, charged with being part of an ongoing methamphetamine manufacturing ring in the county.
Mindy Lee Nichols, 33, of 420 W. Main St., was arrested Wednesday after McKean County Drug Task Force detectives searched her residence.
According to the criminal complaint in the case, Nichols gave the task force consent to search her residence. She was interviewed during the search, and admitted to a task force member that she and others were buying pseudoephedrine and giving it to Joshua Safford “to cook meth,” court records allege.
Safford, 36, of 97 N. Brooklyn Road, Port Allegany, was arrested Wednesday at a residence on East Main Street in Bradford, and charged with conspiracy to make meth, possession of items used to make meth, and operating a meth lab, felonies; risking a catastrophe, a third-degree felony; and resisting arrest, a second-degree misdemeanor. Police allegedly found him at the residence along with a small meth lab and the ingredients to make the drug, court records stated.
He is in McKean County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail in that case. As of Thursday, he had not been charged in relation to the Smethport incident.
During the investigation at Nichols’ residence, police learned that on 13 occasions between June and January, she had purchased pseudoephedrine at pharmacies throughout the area. Evidence of a meth lab was found in the home, and Nichols admitted that she knew meth was being cooked at her residence, court records allege.
She told officers that she had three children living with her from June 3, 2017, until they were removed by Children and Youth Services on Jan. 17, court records stated.
According to District Attorney Stephanie Vettenburg-Shaffer, during the search of the residence, detectives found “numerous methamphetamine manufacturing equipment and chemicals.”
Detectives were assisted by the state Office of Attorney General’s Clandestine Lab Enforcement Program and the State Police Clandestine Lab Response Team who collected the meth equipment and chemicals, Shaffer said.
As a result, Nichols was arrested and arraigned early Thursday by District Judge Bill Todd, and committed to McKean County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
She was charged with conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, possession of precursors and chemicals with intent to manufacture a controlled substance and operating a methamphetamine lab, all felonies, and criminal use of a communication device, risking a catastrophe and endangering welfare of children, all third-degree felonies.
She is scheduled to appear in Central Court Feb. 1.
