North Hollywood Man Guilty in Drug Case

A North Hollywood man pleaded guilty Tuesday to a single charge of conspiracy to manufacture 35 pounds of methamphetamine. In exchange, prosecutors dropped two additional drug charges.

Larry King, 39, who allegedly gave a Drug Enforcement Administration informant cocaine in exchange for ephedrine, a stimulant used to make methamphetamine, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison in addition to a $125,000 fine, Asst. U.S. Atty. John L. Kuray said.

Charges that King sold cocaine and attempted to make fentanyl, a form of synthetic heroin known as “China White,” will be dropped when he receives his sentence from U.S. District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler on Feb. 2, Kuray said.

King and a North Hollywood chemist, Luther Dickson, 47, were accused of conspiring to produce methamphetamine in February and March.

Dickson, who holds a doctorate in chemistry, had a prior narcotics conviction, according to Kuray. He accepted a plea bargain similar to King’s in September but, because of the prior conviction, faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced Dec. 15, Kuray said.