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Last updated on Tuesday, April 9, 2013
(TERRE HAUTE) - United State Attorney Joseph Hogsett announced Monday that Phillip Mannebach, of Terre Haute, was sentenced to life in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker.
Jaclyn Bevis of WTHI reports that this follows his jury trial conviction in late 2012, where he was found guilty of participating in a local methamphetamine trafficking organization, as well as helping to orchestrate the abduction of an individual.
Mannebach's sentencing was connected to eleven other convictions over the course of the last two years.
"Each and every one of these individuals that were part of Operation Saw Mill are now paying the penalty for their involvement in an illegal narcotics trafficking organization," Hogsett announced.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brad Blackington prosecuted the case. He shared a quote from the Federal judge at Monday's press conference.
"She [U.S. District Judge Sarah Evans Barker] addressed Mannebach directly and said 'You're a menace. You've not been able to live within the bounds of society. You can't control yourself, so we have to control you.'"
Blackington also addressed a common misnomer that drug trafficking rings are often nonviolent.
"Drug trafficking is an extremely violent crime and the facts of this case along with the other cases we've prosecuted prove that," he stated.
Mannebach's sentenced is not eligible for parole.
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