H.B. man, 65, half of father-son duo in meth distribution, is sentenced to 15 years in federal prison

A 65-year-old Huntington Beach man, the elder of a father-son pair who distributed drugs sold over the dark web, was sentenced Thursday to 15 years in federal prison for his role in what the U.S. attorney’s office called a methamphetamine ring.

William Thomas Glarner III had faced a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison, prosecutors said.

Glarner was arrested in March after federal investigators said he deposited two packages containing a combined 121.4 grams of methamphetamine at a Los Alamitos post office and a Cypress FedEx location on Jan. 19, according to court documents.

A March 14 search of Glarner’s car uncovered a duffel bag containing more than three pounds of a white substance that authorities later determined was meth. The trunk contained digital scales, used plastic wrap, unused plastic baggies and latex gloves, all noted as “materials consistent with the packaging and distribution of narcotics,” according to a probable-cause statement by a Department of Homeland Security investigator.

On June 6, a federal jury in Santa Ana convicted Glarner of two counts of attempted distribution of methamphetamine and one count of possession with intent to distribute the drug, court records show.

Glarner’s son William “Billy” Glarner IV, 34, of Irvine pleaded guilty June 17 to one count of distribution of methamphetamine.

The younger Glarner admitted in a plea agreement that he obtained drugs from various suppliers and mailed them to dark-web customers via the U.S. Postal Service and commercial shipping services, prosecutors said.

The elder Glarner was nabbed as part of an investigation into his son’s activities. He acted as the mailer for the meth distribution, according to prosecutors.

The younger Glarner is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 4. He also faces a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in federal prison.

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