Santee

A Santee man who pleaded guilty to conspiring to manufacture and possess methamphetamine was sentenced Monday to 20 years in federal prison.

Kevin Sweeney, 31, was one of 91 defendants charged in the “Operation Crankcase” sting, in which undercover agents operated out of the Tripleneck Scientific chemical store.

Sweeney’s attorney, Charles Adair, said his client entered into secretly taped discussions about methamphetamine production with undercover agents.

Sweeney distributed methamphetamine on at least four occasions in 1988 and 1989, the indictment said.

Adair had recommended the minimum sentence of 10 years, and the prosecutor had suggested a 20-year term.

Sweeney’s sentence, imposed by U.S. District Judge Howard Turrentine, is one of the longest given in the case, but one defendant received a 26-year sentence. Most of the defendants have pleaded guilty.