Meth-maker found guilty

The Daily Inter Lake

A Flathead County jury Thursday found Gordon Makarchuk, 48, guilty of manufacturing methamphetamine in 2003.

He will be sentenced Dec. 14.

Makarchuk denied producing the illegal stimulant in a camper at a dairy west of town.

Flathead County Sheriff's Office deputies and the Northwest Drug Team discovered chemical components of methamphetamine as well as a vial of the powder inside Makarchuk's camper.

Bail-jumping charges still are pending for Makarchuk, who was scheduled for trial in 2004 and didn't show up.

Meth labs were much more common in the early 2000s, when the drug team devoted 90 percent of its efforts to investigating meth cases. In 2000, 39 meth-production facilities were raided by police. This year, there has been none.

Deputy County Attorney Dan Guzynski said one reason for the decline is a 2003 Montana law that requires customers at pharmacies and retailers to register when they purchase Sudafed or other products containing pseudoephedrine - a key ingredient in making methamphetamine.

"We have not seen one single law have more effect in combating methamphetamine," he said.

Guzynski and Deputy County Attorney Lori Adams prosecuted Makarchuk, with the help of drug-team leader Kevin Burns.

Makarchuk, who was represented at trial by public defender John Putikka, faces as long as 40 years in prison.