| 3/11/2010 11:02:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Fort men indicted for meth
By Kevin Murphy
Special to the Union
MADISON - Two Fort Atkinson men were indicted Wednesday in federal court for conspiring to possess pseudoephedrine between September and December 2009 with intent to manufacture methamphetamine.
If convicted, Tony Jackson, 31, and Joseph Smith, 27, each face maximum statutory penalties of 20 years in prison.
A grand jury in the Western District of Wisconsin also indicted Jackson for being a felon in possession of firearms. The indictment alleged that Jackson possessed a 20-gauge shotgun and a handgun on Feb. 2. The shotgun has a pistol grip and, although the barrel appeared to have been shortened, its length exceeded the 18-inch minimum.
Jackson has a 2008 felony conviction in Michigan for possessing less than 25 grams of cocaine. Conviction of the firearm offense has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, according to an affidavit filed with the court.
Jackson was indicted last month on the firearms charge that was set for jury trial on June 1. Wednesday's superseding indictment added the drug offense and Smith to the case.
Officials were unavailable for immediate comment this morning on whether the trial date will be changed.
Jackson was in the Walworth County Jail on Feb. 12 when arrested on federal charges. Officers from the Walworth County Sheriff's Department and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Police Department met with Jackson's girlfriend on Feb. 3 regarding an alleged Feb. 2 domestic disturbance between the two.
According to an affidavit by an agent with the state Division of Criminal Investigations filed with the court, the girlfriend met the officers in the parking lot of the Fort Atkinson McDonald's Restaurant. She told them she was afraid of Jackson and that Jackson kept guns in the apartment they shared on South Street.
The girlfriend reportedly agreed to turn over the guns to the officers and they seized the shotgun and pistol from the apartment.
On Feb. 12, officers from the Jefferson and Walworth County sheriff's departments and a state agent talked to Jackson at the Walworth County Jail. Jackson initially declined to talk about the weapons, but changed his mind after learning that a gun also had been seized from his car.
Jackson confirmed he owned the shotgun and had traded methamphetamine for it. He also confirmed that the woman authorities interviewed had been his girlfriend and they shared an apartment on South Street.
Further information about Smith's alleged involvement in the drug conspiracy was not immediately available from prosecutors this morning.
The charges against Jackson and Smith are the result of an investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation; Jefferson County Task Force, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Prosecution of the case has been assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorney Rita M. Rumbelow.
This marks the first-ever chargeable case of a meth lab in Jefferson County.
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