Acting on a tip, police busted Joshua Ray Little and Cynthia Scruggs on Aug. 5, 2012, as they were cooking methamphetamine in a room at the Hilton Motel.
Little, 31, of Crestview, was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in prison for trafficking in more than 200 grams of methamphetamine, according to a news release from the state attorney’s office.
The sentence imposed by Okaloosa County Circuit Judge Michael Flowers includes a 15-year minimum mandatory term and a $50,000 fine, the release said.
Scruggs, 33, of Seminole, Ala., is scheduled to be tried May 20 on charges of trafficking in methamphetamine and tampering with evidence.
The day after the arrests, the Daily News reported that the county’s Drug Task Force had assisted Crestview police in disassembling the meth lab and was removing “volatile chemicals” from the room
A month later, state Rep. Matt Gaetz announced his plan to seek regulations to govern the removal of residue left when people set up meth labs in rental units such as motel rooms.
“When our law enforcement officials go into these hotel rooms, they wear full hazmat suits and masks,” Gaetz said at the time. “But absent some sort of action, 48 or 72 hours later, somebody could have their 3-year-old toddler crawling around in toxic waste.”
Gaetz worked this year with the Florida Department of Health and the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, which oversees the state’s hospitality industry, to establish a cleanup protocol.
He said Thursday his efforts “came up short of the goal line on that priority.”
“Unfortunately, there is not sufficient science in the Department of Health or DBPR to properly gauge the health risks,” he said.
He said he’s asked the state agencies to look around the country to see if there have been efforts to gauge the dangers meth lab residue.
“I’m disappointed we don’t know enough to properly clean up these transient meth labs,” Gaetz said. “But we’re gonna try again next year.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Tom McLaughlin at 850-315-4435 or tmclaughlin@nwfdailynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @TomMnwfdn.