Troy Alan Meyer, 36 of Austin, was sentenced to 144 months in prison Friday.

District Judge Donald E. Rysavy ordered an upwards departure of 22 months from state sentencing guidelines.

Meyer was charged with third degree murder in connection with the Jan. 13, 2001, methamphetamine lab fire and explosion at a southwest Austin residence.

James Erick Chilson, 42, died from burn injuries suffered in the fire and explosion in the basement of a house at 1009 11th Ave. SW.

While defendant Meyer said he never intended to harm anyone in the house, including a 4-year-old child, both defense and prosecution agreed to recommend an upward departure based, in part, on the presence of a small child during the manufacture of drugs, as well as the death of one of the accomplices.

Steven L. Schleicher, an assistant Attorney General, and Patrick A. Oman, Mower County Attorney, were co-prosecutors in the Meyer case.

"The departure from the sentencing guidelines is appropriate in this case," Oman said. He said the Minnesota Legislature, in creating the third degree murder statute, had fashioned a crime statute "that is called murder, but is akin to a manslaughter charge."

By accepting the plea agreement, Meyer avoided going to trial and, if found guilty, faced an even higher departure from state sentencing guidelines.

That observation reinforces the state's aggressive prosecution of drug cases, involving methamphetamine, said Schleicher.

In calling for the upward departure, Schleicher spoke bluntly.

"James Chilson cannot be here today, because he is dead," began Schleicher.

The attorney said aiding and abetting in the manufacture of methamphetamine means the "likelihood of going to prison or the likelihood of being dead."

Chilson suffered third degree burns over 90 percent of his body and spent six weeks in St. Paul's Regions Hospital's burn unit.

He and Meyer and another defendant charged in connection, plus other suspects, with the case were in a house basement cooking materials to make methamphetamine, when an Austin Police Department car was spotted in an alley behind the house.

The occupants panicked at the sight of the police car and started dumping the materials down a basement drain, according to the criminal complaint. Coleman heater fuel and other materials were ignited by cigarettes in a nearby ashtray and a flash-fire explosion resulted.

According to Sleicher, the upwards departure was merited because the methamphetamine lab was in a residential neighborhood in Austin and because a 4-year-old child was present in the house.

Schleicher said Chilson's 4-year-old son, by live-in girlfriend, Sandra Johnson, was known to all of the drug lab accomplices to be in the house at the time. The attorney said, the child and the defendant had a relationship and that the boy called the defendant "Uncle Troy."

Meyer's attorney, William Wright, a Rochester public defender, also asked the judge to adopt the joint recommendation of a 144 months sentence made by the prosecution and the defense.

"He bit the bullet. He didn't like it, but he accepted it," Wright said.

He said his client was remorseful for the family and friends of James Eric Chilson and others touched by the methamphetamine lab fire and explosion.

"My client has accepted responsibility and admitted his involvement as a co-defendant in this matter," Wright said.

Then, the defense attorney said the victim, Chilson, and others all shared responsibility for the events brought before the court.

He named three other people as well as the only other co-defendant charged in the case, Jamey Lee Chris Schammel, as others, who were "directly involved, but who have not been charged."

Meyer made no comment to the court, when invited by the judge before sentence was pronounced.

Rysavy said the pre-sentence investigation showed, "You have spent much of your life on the wrong side of the law."

The judge said he would not levy a fine upon Meyer because he has so much child support owed.

Rysavy said there were legitimate grounds for the upward denature, which calls for a minimum of 96 months in prison and 48 months of supervised release.

Meyer will be given credit for time served. After the methamphetamine lab fire and explosion, Meyer was one of those accomplices not apprehended at the scene. He remained at large until Jan. 17, 2001, when he turned himself into authorities.

The defendant also was ordered to make restitution.

Meyer was ordered to be transported to the St. Cloud detention center for intake processing before being assigned to a state prison to serve his sentence.

The only spectators in court Friday afternoon were the defendant's relatives.

No victim impact statements were made.

After Friday's sentencing hearing, Oman told reporters another co-defendant, Schammel, faces a pretrial hearing Friday in a Mower County Third Judicial district courtroom.

He has also been charged with third degree murder and other felony charges in connection with the methamphetamine lab.

Schammel was also severely burned in the flash-fire and explosion and treated at the Regions Hospital burn unit in St. Paul.

After he was released and returned to Austin, the was picked up and charged for his role in the crimes.

Johnson, mother of the 4-year-old child, asleep in the house at the time of the fire and explosion entered a plea of guilty to child endangerment.

Lee Bonorden can be reached at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com