PERRY TOWNSHIP — Kenneth L. Williams Jr. made no bones about smoking marijuana or that he didn’t shy away from methamphetamine when he had the opportunity to try it.

However, when he saw boy about 2 years old toddling about a mobile home where meth was made, his altruistic side came to the fore.

Williams called a state police trooper who had arrested him on drug, gun and assault charges and told him about the meth lab, he testified Monday at a preliminary hearing for five people arrested during a June search of the property at 237 Carey Road, Perry Township.

The trooper referred him to the state Attorney General’s Office, and Williams turned informant, telling agents what he had seen, and participating in a controlled buy of $100 worth of meth for agents on June 18.

Defense attorneys gave Williams a hard time about his apparent concern for the boy, eliciting testimony about the charges Williams is facing.

Williams, of Sandy Lake Township, maintained he has no deal for a break on charges against him. State police charged him with grabbing a woman, shoving her to the ground, growing marijuana in his home and illegally possessing a .22-caliber rifle.

“I haven’t been promised nothing,” Williams said. “This is solely on that child.”

On the five or six occasions Williams saw the boy, the son of defendant Sarah A. Hetrick, the child looked like he had not been bathed in days, wore a soiled diaper and was essentially unsupervised, Williams said.

Williams said he met property owner Donald D. Sturgin, 35, when he brought scrap metal to the scrap yard Sturgin worked at. Over about a year, they became “almost friends,” going out for a beer and then getting high together.

“I smoked some marijuana with him and found out I could get some methamphetamine by him,” Williams said.

At Sturgin’s home, he saw peanut butter jars, hoses and chemicals, Williams said.

“It wasn’t too hard to figure out what was going on,” Williams said.

What was going on was that meth was being made, he said.

Williams said he never saw Sturgin make the drug, but saw “Bob,” identified by authorities as Aaron W. Allmon, do so, and ingested meth with Allmon and Sturgin’s girlfriend, Callie T. Bothun, 35, of 10 S. Second St., Greenville. Sturgin; Bothun; Hetrick, 30, of 59 Thompson Road, Perry Township; and Allmon, 34, of Orwell, Ohio, all appeared to live in the mobile home, Williams said.

Officials wearing special suits and breathing apparatus to protect themselves from the hazardous chemicals used in making meth raided the mobile home and a camper on the property June 20, arresting all four, plus Jesse A. Sullivan, 32, of 1911 Bachop Road, Sheakleyville. Williams said he had never seen Sullivan before Monday.

Agents testified that Sturgin, roused from bed wearing only a shirt, fought with police, causing one to suffer a knee sprain that required medical treatment.

A forensic scientist with the state police crime lab in Erie, who also is a member of the clandestine lab team, detailed finding items used in making meth in the mobile home, along with four plastic bottles he called “active cooks,” which contained a mixture of ingredients in the process of creating meth.



The four active cooks – each one deemed a separate meth lab for purposes of criminal charges – could be dangerous, said chemist Brett Bailor. The cook used the “one-pot method” of making meth, he said, adding “Fire and explosion is a very high risk.”

Each active cook is “essentially a bomb,” he said. “If the lithium ignites, it could explode.”

The mixtures in the plastic bottles contained meth and individual ingredients, and traces of meth and pseudoephedrine were found on paraphernalia including bottles, jars, funnels and a mirror, and in a burn barrel outside, he said.

Agents also found two bags of pot and a .45-caliber handgun in a bedroom and two pot plants outside.

Prior to the hearing, prosecutors withdrew four charges relating to the marijuana that had been filed against Bothun and Hetrick; three marijuana-related charges against Sturgin; and a firearms charge against Bothun.

All charges filed against Sullivan were withdrawn except for possession of meth and drug paraphernalia.

Before the hearing was complete, Sullivan, Allmon and Hetrick allowed charges to proceed to court. Allmon faces counts related to methamphetamine and marijuana manufacture and possession, possession of drug paraphernalia, conspiracy, reckless endangerment and prohibited possession of a firearm. Hetrick is charged with counts related to methamphetamine manufacture and possession, possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana, conspiracy, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of her son.

When the hearing continued, prosecutors presented stipulated evidence that Sturgin and Bothun had bought pseudoephedrine from local pharmacies in quantities in excess of state regulations, and synopses of telephone calls Bothun made from Mercer County Jail in which she allegedly acknowledged having clothes and “stuff” at the mobile home, and telling someone, “All I did was get pills so I could get high.”

District Judge Lorinda M. Hinch, Mercer, dismissed charges of causing catastrophe filed against all defendants; charges of endangering the welfare of the boy filed against Bothun, Sturgin, Allmon and Sullivan; and a charge of aggravated assault filed against Sturgin.

She held for court against Sturgin charges related to the manufacture and possession of meth, possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana, conspiracy and reckless endangerment; and against Bothun related to manufacture and possession of meth, possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana and reckless endangerment.

Assistant District Attorney Brian Farrone said he would refile the aggravated assault charge against Sturgin when he can have the agent allegedly hurt by Sturgin – the agent was on vacation Monday – appear to testify.

All defendants were returned to Mercer County Jail after failing to post bond.