Kentucky man guilty in case of meth missile that failed to fire.

from columbia daily tribune

Drug idea a bust for rocketeer
Kentucky man guilty in case of meth missile that failed to fire.

By SARA AGNEW of the Tribune’s staff
Published Thursday, July 6, 2006
Hard telling how long it took Joseph Seidl and Michael Sullivan to come up with the idea, but it sure was sweet when it came together.

Imagine a homemade, cigarette-lighter-powered, drug-hiding rocket that sits in the trunk and can be activated from the driver’s seat, ejecting illegal contraband from the vehicle with the flip of a switch. Beats swallowing the stash.

Thing is, the rocket won’t launch if it’s not plugged in. That’s apparently what Seidl and Sullivan forgot last summer when they were stopped June 24, 2005, in Callaway County for speeding on Interstate 70.

Missouri Highway Patrol trooper Tommy Wally pulled over the pair, opened the trunk of the red 1990 Ford Thunderbird and found the 4-foot-long cylindrical device stuffed with 2 pounds of "ice," or methamphetamine.

Seidl, 39, of Kentucky pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Nanette Laughrey in Jefferson City to participating in a conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Sullivan, 41, also of Kentucky, pleaded guilty last month to his role in the conspiracy. Sullivan, who was driving the car, fled on foot after the traffic stop and was arrested after throwing a small amount of suspected meth on the ground.

According to an affidavit given by Special Agent Steve Mattas of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the rocket was controlled by an elaborate system of ropes and pulleys designed to lift it into an upright position once the trunk was popped from inside the vehicle. The bottom of the 4-foot-long rocket, which was about 4 inches in diameter, had eight explosive charges connected by a series of wires to a homemade switch in the front of the car.

The wires drew power from an adapter plugged into the car’s cigarette lighter, Mattas said, adding that a bomb squad from the Missouri Highway Patrol found the contraption to be functional. Inside the rocket, law enforcement officials found two gallon-size Ziploc bags containing a large quantity of methamphetamine.

However, the power source to the rocket had been disconnected. So the Kentucky men’s elaborate plan to shoot their "ice" into space never got off the launch pad.

Three pipe bombs also found in the trunk were tested and determined to be phony, Mattas said. But inside the bombs, officers discovered more illegal drugs. To top it off, officers found a bundle of $12,000 in cash underneath a newspaper near the front of the passenger seat, Mattas said. Seidl claimed he saved the money from his $40,000-a-year job as a "chicken catcher" at Tyson Foods, the DEA agent said.

Seidl could face a sentence of 20 years in federal prison without parole to life in federal prison without parole, plus a fine of up to $8 million. A sentencing hearing has not be set.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Douglas Shull prosecuted the case with help from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

man, could you imagine how happy some of those astronauts in that psace right now woudl be if that thing did work?

man only in kentucky would someone try to pull some shit like that.

He is like the James Bond of the meth set.

talk bout missing your money shot!

I bet they were listening to Def Leppard one day, and was like...

" DUDE, that song is talking ot us man. That is what we gotta do!!!!"

"Yeah, then when we are like HUGE, We can just blow away the competetion."

Tweakers have to do stuff - these guys just took one hit too many and found themselves in an auto shop on July 4. I'm just glad their original idea for rocket-powered ejector seats ran short on tubing...

mG