Press Release

February 4, 2010

-Princeton-

Gregory R. Fulk, age 44, Evansville, was sentenced in Circuit Circuit Court to eight (8) years of prison following his admission that he manufactured methamphetamines in the basement of his parents’ home in rural Oakland City.  Fulk pled guilty pursuant to a plea agreement to Dealing in a Controlled Substance-Methamphetamine, a Class B felony.  He will serve the first 6 years in the Indiana Department of Correction with the remaining 2 years to be served on probation and will receive credit for the time he has served since being incarcerated in June, 2009.  

On January 26, 2009 Oakland City law enforcement officers served a search warrant on a rural Oakland City residence after receiving information that Fulk was manufacturing meth in his parents’ basement.  Fulk had lived in the basement for some time and during the search of the basement and patio outside the basement door, a great amount of drug-related evidence was found.  Officers found in a tent on the back porch two liter bottles which contained methamphetamine and ephedrine.  Also found were stripped lithium batteries and instant cold packs.  Ephedrine and lithium batteries are ingredients necessary to manufacture meth.  The cold packs, which contain Ammonium Nitrate, are a necessary ingredient when trying to manufacture meth via the shake-and-bake method.  Unlike Anhydrous Ammonia, Ammonium Nitrate has no odor, meaning that it is much less likely to be detected.  

Officers also discovered various firearms, which led to an additional charge of Possession of Methamphetamine while in Possession of a Firearm, a Class C felony.  Other items located in Fulk’s basement were marijuana, a binder containing several chapters detailing methods of manufacturing meth, and another binder with pages entitled “Hit Man”, which detailed methods of performing murders undetected, surveillance techniques, and ways to make a silencer for a firearm out of ordinary materials.

Gibson County Prosecutor Robert Krieg said this particular meth lab was another indication that the dangerous “shake and bake” method of meth manufacturing has arrived in the county.  He said that by using this method, Fulk’s parents and others who may be in the home would not have detected any unusual odor.  Krieg noted that by using the “shake and bake” method, Fulk placed at risk both his own personal safety and the safety his parents and his children who might be visiting the home.  Krieg stated this method is highly volatile and that that slightest mistakes can cause deadly consequences, as seen last year in a fire in Princeton that burned out a trailer.

OAKLAND CITY MAN GETS 8 YEARS FOR MANUFACTURING METH

Evidence of Dangerous “Shake and Bake” Method Found