Hanover Park changes mind in meth lab plea

A Hanover Park man busted for cooking up meth in his mother's home struck a bargain with prosecutors in July, landing a three-year jail term in exchange for pleading guilty to one charge of possessing the illegal drug.

But as he arrived in court Wednesday to start serving his sentence, 27-year-old Donald Brizendine said he'd like to try to undo the deal.

The news came as a surprise even to his lawyer, who carried on a heated conversation with the father of two in a Rolling Meadows courthouse hallway before taking the matter up before Cook County Judge John Scotillo.

Brizendine's mother wept.

Even after a plea deal is struck, defendants can attempt to change their fate by requesting their guilty plea be withdrawn or their sentence be reconsidered. Such requests must come via formal motions made within a month of the sentencing. Brizendine will have until mid-August.

He was arrested in July 2006 after officers arriving at his mom's Hanover Park home to serve a search warrant and found him there making methamphetamine, a powerful and highly addictive stimulant drug, prosecutors have said.

They said Brizendine had about 10 pounds of liquid meth base and 90 grams of methamphetamine on hand, as well as scales and burners. The stash's street value exceeded $200,000, authorities said.

Brizendine originally faced charges of possessing, making and delivering the drug.

The latter two charges were dropped in the plea deal, but could be reinstated should a motion to withdraw his earlier guilty plea be granted.