John Van Winkle

Sentence: 9 years
Offense: Distribution of pseudoephedrine with intent to manufacture methamphetamine
Priors: None
Year sentenced: 2003
Age at sentencing: 39
Projected release date: Mar. 4, 2011 

John was paying his way through college when he met his wife. After graduation, they married and had two daughters. Brittany, John’s oldest daughter, was entering middle school when she developed a tumor on her esophagus.  Doctors performed a series of surgeries but the tumor continued to grow around Brittany’s vocal cords, forcing John and his family to consider removing them and rendering their daughter mute.  They rejected this procedure and continued to battle the tumor with more surgeries, including one that attempted to rebuild her damaged throat, which proved unsuccessful.
 
The extreme financial pressure to pay for Brittany’s medical bills and necessary antibiotics was increasing. John was the manager of a Texas dollar store at the time. A criminal informant (CI) approached him about buying multiple cases of pseudoephedrine, a decongestant.  The store had a surplus of pseudoephedrine in storage and John agreed. He sold the CI 55 cases of pseudoephedrine on July 31, 2002 for $600 plus an additional $100 payment that John kept.  On August 23, 2002, John sold another 92 cases to the CI for $1,200.
 
John was never charged with possessing methamphetamine, running a methamphetamine laboratory or earning money from the sale of the drug. His crime was selling pseudoephedrine, a precursor chemical to methamphetamine as well as a common sinus medication.  However, John was held accountable for over 25,000 kilograms of marijuana (converted from a methamphetamine equivalency for sentencing purposes), as well as all of the actions of members in the drug conspiracy.
 
John had no prior convictions and had accepted responsibility for his part in the offense. He pled guilty to the charges, believing he would be sentenced to a maximum term of two years. At sentencing, John was stunned to learn he would be spending almost a decade behind bars under the sentencing guidelines.
 
Two of John’s codefendants have already been released. John’s family is not often able to visit him because of the distance between their home and his prison. His daughter Brittany now has a permanent tracheostomy—a surgical opening in her throat that allows her to breathe and emit liquids.  Her tumor remains a serious concern. John’s incarceration has taken an irreparable toll on his wife and daughters, emotionally and economically.