A 49-year-old Wadena man was sentenced Oct. 10 for manufacturing methamphetamine.
Steven Arthur Savaloja was ordered to serve 365 days in local jail, and had a prison sentence of more than 7 years stayed for the next 30 years. He'll also serve 30 years probation, pay a fine of $1,587 and follow other conditions.
Savaloja was found guilty of first-degree drug conspiracy -- manufacture methamphetamine, a felony. As part of a plea deal, he had charges of first-degree drugs, possession of methamphetamine, improper transport of anhydrous ammonia, manufacturing meth in the presence of a child, and possession of a pistol or assault weapon while a user of controlled substances dismissed.
Agents with the West Central Drug Task Force and local officers executed a search warrant at Savaloja's home on Alfred Avenue NE in Wadena in June. They were working with information from an informant who said she had been involved with a meth manufacturing ring, and her job was to travel to different cities and purchase Sudafed tablets to be used in the making of the drug.
Inside Savaloja's home, authorities found Pyrex glassware, strainers, tubing, ice cream buckets, glass smoking pipes, ziploc bags, a digital scale, syringes, prescription drug bottles, a butane torch and two firearms, loaded. Police found two complete clandestine labs inside the home.
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Another man, believed to be Savaloja's partner in cooking meth, had already been arrested earlier in the day. Though Savaloja was not immediately located, his partner's cell phone began to ring as it was in a police evidence locker, and the name came back as Savaloja's on the caller ID. Savaloja eventually turned himself in to police.
