Ex-Lake Co. man jailed for meth operation
A former Libertyville man was sentenced to four years in prison Thursday after he admitted he ran a methamphetamine lab in his townhouse.
Scott Erb, 42, pleaded guilty to manufacturing methamphetamine during a hearing before Circuit Judge John Phillips.
Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Steven Derue said Erb was arrested Oct. 29, 2005, when he drove up to a Dumpster in Libertyville and tossed in highly volatile chemicals used in the production of methamphetamine.
The Dumpster had been under surveillance by agents of the Lake County Metropolitan Enforcement Group.
Erb was living nearby in a townhouse in the 800 block of Braeman Court. Garbage trucks collecting trash from a Dumpster caught fire on three occasions, and a Libertyville firefighter determined the byproducts of methamphetamine production were starting the fires.
A search of Erb's townhouse turned up more than a pound of the drug, worth more than $50,000, and other materials associated with production of the drug.
Close to a year later, Erb was charged with setting up another methamphetamine lab in a Gurnee apartment, but those charges were dropped in exchange for his plea in the Libertyville case.
Derue said Erb faced up to 15 years in prison if he had been convicted after a trial.