COUNTYWIDE : 8 Plead Not Guilty in Drug Charges

Eight defendants named in a major methamphetamine indictment pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of operating a nationwide drug manufacturing and distribution ring.

Superior Court Judge Frederic L. Link set a trial date of July 23 for the group, which includes two alleged ringleaders from East County and a South Bay Traffic Court referee.

Larry Albert Ross, 42, of El Cajon and Earl Frank Westbrook, 46, of Lakeside are accused of being the leaders of an organization that manufactured methamphetamine and distributed the stimulant throughout San Diego County and from Kansas City, Mo. They are being held in lieu of $1-million bail.

Donald Wayne Russell, a 40-year-old Chula Vista attorney, is a Traffic Court referee in the South Bay Municipal Court who is accused of providing illegal advice to the ring. He resigned from his judicial position, effective June 15, before being indicted. He was scheduled to be sworn in as a Municipal Court commissioner in Riverside County, but officials there say the job offer has been rescinded.

Other defendants in the case include a couple and their son, who allegedly “cooked up” 20 pounds of methamphetamine in a Spring Valley house earlier this year.