The third strike will cost a local man 40 years behind bars in what is the longest sentence ever handed down on meth charges in McMinnville.
The defendant, Lance Anthony Vogel, 44, was issued the 40-year sentence this week by Circuit Court Judge Bart Stanley after he entered guilty pleas on three separate meth charges along with violating the habitual traffic offender status. He was sentenced as a Range-Two offender meaning he will have to serve 35 percent of his sentence before his first chance of parole, that being 14 years. His sentence is the longest ever given to a meth offender in Warren County on a state charge, although there have been repeat cocaine offenders who have received up to 57 years in prison.
It was Vogel’s persistence in manufacturing meth which led prosecutors to demand the lengthy sentence during their plea agreement discussions. Prosecutors pointed out Vogel was free on bond following his first meth arrest when he was caught for another meth violation. His arrests included one initiated when he was pulled over last June.
“Mr. Vogel was very nervous and stated he had methamphetamine under the driver’s seat,” recalled McMinnville police officer Ben Cantrell in his warrant against Vogel.
The officer went on to find numerous items used in the production of meth along with five grams of finished product.
Vogel was arrested again later that year when officers raided his home and found a meth lab in the same house where his elderly mother was being nursed. It was after that raid prosecutors pointed to Vogel’s questionable finances, pointing out he had made a total of $80,000 in bonds to get out of jail despite having no income of note aside from a disability check.
The sentences will run consecutively and consist of two 14-year sentences for initiating the process to manufacture meth, 12 years for possession with intent to sell, and four years for violating habitual traffic offender status. He will also be responsible for paying $8,000 in drug fines.