Local News in Brief : Operator of North Hollywood Drug Lab Gets 8-Year Sentence

A North Hollywood man who authorities said operated a $200-million methamphetamine laboratory in his home was sentenced Monday to eight years in federal prison.

Larry King, 46, who pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, commonly known as speed, was sentenced by U. S. District Judge Alicemarie H. Stotler.

King was arrested in April, 1986, along with Luther Dickson, 48, also of North Hollywood, a former chemistry professor at California State College, Bakersfield.

Dickson, who also pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge, was previously sentenced to 15 years in federal prison.

Prosecutors said federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents discovered the clandestine lab while investigating a Canoga Park business called Chemical Shed in a related drug case.

Using hidden microphones, the agents heard Dickson ordering a chemical used to manufacture methamphetamine, then followed him to King’s home, prosecutors said.

The lab was capable of producing 100 million doses of the drug worth an estimated $200 million, a spokesman for the DEA said.

Prosecutors said the two men also asked a DEA informant to buy chemicals for them and paid him with two ounces of cocaine.

Chemical Shed has since been shut down. Its owner, Burton Farrell of Westlake Village, pleaded guilty to drug charges in April and was sentenced in June to six years in prison.