LEBANON — A Harlan Township man who was arrested with two others in what police called the county's first methamphetamine lab bust was sentenced to prison Tuesday for about six years.

        The sentence, about five years short of the maximum, came in the wake of a judge's decision to dismiss a charge that Joseph Lester Wiggins, 35, was involved in manufacturing the illicit drug at the rundown farmhouse in the 9700 block of Ohio 28.

        During Tuesday's hearing in Warren County Common Pleas Court, defense attorney Shawn Stiver maintained that Mr. Wiggins was merely a visitor on the property rented by Lori and Phillip McMullen on June 29, when it was raided by the Warren County Drug Task Force.

        “Those two were the masterminds of this. My client was just a visitor, and the McMullens were the ones in control of the situation,” Mr. Stiver told Judge Neal Bronson.

        Assistant Prosecutor Keith Anderson, asking for the maximum sentence of about 11 years, reminding the judge that Mr. Wiggins had admitted involvement in making the drug at the farmhouse.

        “By his own statement, they were making four or five batches a week,” Mr. Anderson said.

        Mr. Wiggins said he will appeal the prison term of five years and 10 months.

        Jurors convicted Mr. Wiggins in January of felony charges of preparing marijuana for sale, aggravated possession of drugs, two counts charges of unlawful possession of a dangerous ordnance and misdemeanor illegal use of drug paraphernalia.

        The McMullens are to be tried on similar charges.

        They also face charges of child endangering, because authorities allege the couple's two children were home when drugs were being manufactured and sold.

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