The State - News from May 20, 1986
A one-time nuclear engineer was sentenced to 35 years in prison for selling chemicals used in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine. James Mageean, 50, of Martinez, Calif.--known to the underworld as “Dr. Crank”--was convicted last March in federal court in Reno on charges of racketeering and conspiracy. Federal authorities, who seized his warehouse in Sparks, Nev., and supply houses in Martinez and San Diego, said during Mageean’s trial that he supplied advice to drug makers, as well as the chemicals needed in their illicit factories.
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