Mentor Man Admits To Making Meth

A Mentor man accused of running a shake-and-bake or one-pot methamphetamine lab out of his home pleaded guilty to a pair of drug-related charges Wednesday morning in Lake County Court of Common Pleas.

Specifically, James Sample, 46, pleaded guilty to illegal manufacture of methamphetamine and meth possession.

Sample could receive between three and nine years in prison when Judge Joseph Gibson sentences him on April 3.

As part of Sample's plea, he forfeitted all of the paraphernalia that authorities confiscated when Mentor Police and Lake County Narcotics Agents raided his home on Jan. 27.

That includes:

• empty lithium battery casings
• drain cleaner
• a coffee grinder
• funnels
• coffee filters
• a homemade cylinder with a pressure gauge thought to be used for meth production
• scales
• and an HCL gas generator used to turn methamphetamine oil into powder.

Authorities also found long guns, finished meth and homemade meth pipes made from light bulbs.

Narcotics agents think the lab was used to make methamphetamine via the shake-and-bake or one-pot method, which involves combining the ingredients in a single sealed container and shaking it to increase the pressure.