EATON — A Preble County man has been sentenced to five years in prison for making methamphetamines in his garage.

David Shindeldecker, 40, recently convicted by a Preble County jury for “Illegal Manufacturing of Methamphetamine” was sentenced last week by the Preble County Court of Common Pleas to five years in prison.

On Thursday, May 28, 2015, a Preble County petit jury found David Shindeldecker guilty of “Illegal Manufacture of Drugs,” a felony of the first degree; “Illegal Assembly of Chemicals for the Manufacture of Drugs,” a felony of the second degree; “Endangering Children,” a felony of the third degree; “Illegal Conveyance of Prohibited Items onto the Grounds of a Detention Facility,” a felony of the third degree; “Aggravated Possession of Drugs,” a felony of the third degree, and “Drug Paraphernalia,” a misdemeanor of the fourth degree.

On Wednesday, June 3, Shindeldecker was sentenced to five years in the custody of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections. Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Gractia S. Manning represented the State of Ohio at the two-day jury trial, with Kirstin Knight representing Shindledecker.

Judge David N. Abruzzo presided.

According to court records, Shindeldecker was arrested on Nov. 29, 2014, following a traffic stop by Dep. Raymond Hatfield of the Preble County Sheriff’s Office for driving with a suspended license.

“He was patted down and had a container of methamphetamine in his jacket pocket. He was warned about conveying contraband into the jail, but nonetheless more methamphetamine was found in a different location in his jacket during the booking process, resulting in an additional charge,” officials noted.

The next day, Det. Robert Schneider and Dep. Hatfield responded to Shindeldecker’s residence and gained consent from his mother to search the garage. Inside the garage, a large methamphetamine lab was discovered, including multiple propane tanks, glass reaction jars with liquid methamphetamine still inside, and multiple chemicals used in the manufacturing process. Shindeldecker’s fingerprints were on two of the reaction jars inside the meth lab.

“Methamphetamine is a powerfully addictive drug which ruins lives,” Prosecuting Attorney Martin Votel said. “The only way to fight the distribution of the drug is by prosecuting those who manufacture it, one lab at a time. The Preble County Sheriff’s Office has done an excellent job developing new investigative techniques to ferret out those who manufacture methamphetamine in their kitchens, garages, and tool sheds. And fortunately, Preble County juries have had little difficulty handing down guilty verdicts when presented with sufficient circumstantial evidence in these cases.”

Shindeldecker was sentenced to five years mandatory prison time for the “Illegal Manufacturing” charge, as well as three years for “Endangering Children” and three years for “Illegal Conveyance,” all sentences to be served concurrently with one another.

According to Votel, the court elected not to sentence Shindeldecker on the remaining three charges, finding that they “merged” with the “Illegal Manufacturing” charge for the purpose of sentencing.

Shindeldecker will be subject to a mandatory period of post release control of five years upon his release from prison.