PEKIN MAN'S THIRD DRUG CONVICTION NETS LIFE TERM

No Parole For 27-Year-Old Methamphetamine Maker

PEORIA - Three central Illinois men linked to a meth-making conspiracy
appeared in U.S. District Court on Thursday. By the end of the day, two
went to prison and one faced a mandatory life prison sentence.

Andrew L. Wamsley, 27, 2704 Pine St., Pekin, was labeled a "dramatic
example of the carnage caused by methamphetamine" by U.S. District Judge
Michael Mihm. Involved in a conspiracy for three years, Wamsley was
sentenced to life in prison without parole.

According to his plea agreement, Wamsley made more than 500 grams of the
drug from 2000 to 2004 and taught several others, including two minors, how
to make meth. He also admitted to telling a handful of people to get
meth-making precursors, such as anhydrous ammonia and cold medicine.

"You are 27, and it's really the only sentence I can impose right now. It
doesn't get any worse than that," the judge said.

Mihm also commented on how destructive and powerful meth addiction is,
using Wamsley's "cooking" of the drugs in his home while his
then-2-year-old child was in the room as an example.

"The ironic thing is that now you would do anything to protect your child,"
Mihm said as Wamsley nodded. "But that doesn't change the fact that this
happened."

It wasn't the amount of drugs or the fact that he taught others to make the
drug that netted Wamsley the stiff sentence. Rather, it was his two
previous drug convictions which, under federal sentencing guidelines,
resulted in the life term.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tate Chambers indicated Wamsley had cooperated with
authorities and that he hoped to return in a year to ask Mihm to reduce his
sentence.

Earlier, Robert L. Hale, 412 Morgan St., pleaded guilty to conspiring to
make meth. The 40-year-old man's three felony drug convictions will likely
garner him a life term when he is sentenced in December.

According to his plea agreement, Hale worked with Wamsley and others to
distribute more than 1,000 grams of meth in a two-year period ending when
he was arrested in January 2004.

Hale admitted to making the drug near Greeley Alternative School. His
sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 2.

Also sentenced was Floid B. Wilson, who received a 108-month prison
sentence. In April, Wilson, 57, 3218 N. El Vista Ave., pleaded guilty to
conspiring to make the drug in 2003 and early 2004.

According to his plea agreement, Wilson allowed Wamsley to make the drug at
his home in 2003 and 2004. In return, Wilson got a small amount of meth,
the plea agreement states. Wamsley made 1,500 grams of meth during that time.