Meth labs busted

Three children removed from Butte homes

October 21, 2005

MARY AMES\Frontiersman reporter

BUTTE - The Mat-Su Narcotics Team arrested four people and found two toddlers and one 6-year-old child while busting three meth labs Wednesday morning, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Search warrants were served at about 10 a.m. at homes located at Mile 10 and Mile 10.5 Old Glenn Hwy. and on Bodenberg Loop, trooper spokesman Greg Wilkinson said Thursday. The team found eight to 10 grams of processed methamphetamine, several firearms, cash, a scale and packaging, according to Wilkinson, and the number of labs and the paraphernalia involved made it a labor-intensive bust, because officers had to be certified to handle hazardous material.

Erik Ostensen, 28, was charged with three counts of second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, one count of fourth-degree MICS and one count of reckless endangerment; Mary Jean Jones, 29, was charged with four counts of second-degree MICS and reckless endangerment; Laura Faye Aerni, 40, was charged with three counts of second-degree MICS and Mark Graham, 51, was charged with three counts of second-degree MICS. The four were taken to Mat-Su Pre-Trial Facility in Palmer. Ostensen, Jones and Aerni are being held there in lieu of $50,000 bail and Graham is being held in lieu of $100,000 bail.

The state Office of Children's Services took charge of the children found in the homes.

According to court records, Ostensen failed to appear for a court date Sept. 12 this year for a petition to revoke his probation on misdemeanor charges filed in 2003, which included fourth-degree criminal mischief and resisting arrest.

Aerni was charged with five motor-vehicle violations since 1999, including driving without a valid license, operating with expired registration and not carrying proof of insurance. Her most recent violation was in 2003, according to court records.

Jones has a more extensive record, including charges of making a false report in 1994, third-degree criminal mischief in 1996, a driving under the influence charge in 1998 and a felony theft charge prosecutors dismissed in January of this year. Jones accumulated a list of driving violations in 2005, including illegal use of studded tires in May, failure to provide a child restraint, failure to wear a seat belt and driving with expired registration in June, driving with no proof of insurance in July, no proof of insurance and speeding in August and parking in a handicapped zone in October, according to court documents.

Graham's record includes two drug charges in Anchorage from 1989 and 1991 that were dismissed, driving without a valid license in 1997, 1998 and 2001 and not wearing a seat belt in 2003.

The Mat-Su Narcotics Team includes 14 investigators from the troopers, Alaska Interdiction Task Force, Major Offenders Unit of the Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement, six members of the special emergency response team and two members of the National Guard Counterdrug Support Program. They were assisted by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, Wilkinson said.

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@frontiersman.com.