A Fort Smith man has been sentenced in federal court in Oklahoma to 15½ years in prison after a jury was told that the man tried to destroy methamphetamine by dumping it in a trash can of bleach as police closed in on him.
U.S. District Judge Ronald A. White sentenced Nowlin Lee Waugh Jr., 35, in a hearing Tuesday in Muskogee, Okla. A news release on Waugh's sentencing from the U.S. attorney's office said he would not be eligible for parole.
A jury convicted Waugh of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine in a trial held in August. Waugh was sentenced after the completion of a presentence report, according to the news release.
Jurors heard during the trial that Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers attempted to stop a vehicle driven by Waugh on Interstate 40 in Okmulgee County on March 23. As the troopers chased the vehicle, they could see erratic movement by the driver inside.
When the vehicle stopped, the release said, troopers saw bags that contained methamphetamine, a trash can with methamphetamine and bleach in it and an open bottle of bleach. There also were several open plastic baggies that had methamphetamine residue in them.
Troopers recovered more than 50 grams of methamphetamine that was not destroyed with bleach, the release said.
Metro on 12/14/2018