By Stephanie Ujhelyi
The (Alliance) Review
Four Portage County men accused of operating a methamphetamine lab in an Alliance apartment were bound over to the grand jury Wednesday.
In a packed court room, Alliance Municipal Court Judge Robert Lavery sent the felony drug cases to Canton after an Alliance police detective's testimony.
John P. Thomas, 22, of Atwater; Tom McCambridge, 23, of Atwater; Eric McCambridge, 22, of Alliance; and Adam Pifer, 25, of Atwater were arrested March 19 after Alliance police received a call from Portage County sheriff's detectives, who were following Tom McCambridge and a female. Sheriff's detectives told police they received a tip that the two were transporting a portable meth lab to a city apartment in the 200 block of North Union Avenue.
Police found Tom McCambridge in possession of a backpack, and Alliance Det. James Hilles testified that Portage County law enforcement had warned his department of a bust they made earlier that morning of a suspect who carried the meth lab in his backpack.
Although no meth lab was found in the vehicle, Hilles explained that police recovered a scale with possible meth residue on it and a bag of marijuana from Tom McCambridge. Tom McCambridge led investigators to his brother Eric's apartment, but had to wait for Eric's arrival for consent, the detective testified.
Upon entering the apartment, officers found an active meth lab in an upstairs closet, Hilles said.
Thomas and Pifer arrived shortly after. Thomas was arrested on an active warrant for possession of drugs, while Pifer was found in possession of 58 pseudoephedrine tablets, which is the main ingredient for manufacture of methamphetamine.
Hilles said the McCambridge brothers told police the lab belonged to Thomas.
Thomas and Tom McCambridge were charged with illegal manufacture of methamphetamine, a second-degree felony. Thomas also had a resisting arrest charge.
Eric McCambridge and Pifer were charged with complicity to manufacture methamphetamine.
Lavery bound all four defendants over to Stark County and continued the same bond.
If convicted of all charges, Thomas faces more than nine years in prison and $18,000 in fines. Each McCambridge brother and Pifer can receive up to eight years in prison and $15,000 in fines.
During a subsequent hearing Wednesday, Thomas also was bound over to the grand jury on those charges related to the warrant.
Alliance police officer Patrick King testified in a separate hearing that while serving a warrant in August on Pifer, who had given them permission to search his vehicle, they encountered a sleeping Thomas, who appeared to be reaching for a weapon from his pocket. After gaining control of Thomas, they found folded pieces of aluminum foil in his pocket and a plastic bag containing admitted methamphetamine.
Officers charged him with possession of methamphetamine, a fifth-degree felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a fourth-degree felony.
On March 19, officers served Thomas with that warrant for failing to appear in Alliance Municipal Court on those charges.
The Alliance Review is a sister publication of the Record-Courier.