Meth addict sentenced to eight years

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, December 8, 2004

Curtis Neal Vanputten was a successful dairy farmer, developing one of the best dairies of its size in the state, his lawyer said in court Tuesday.

Then he got hooked on methamphetamine, an illegal drug.

“Everything went into the garbage,” lawyer Chad Dold told Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Anita Farris.

Vanputten pleaded guilty to six felony counts, including two counts of possession of methamphetamine with intent to sell it, and having hundreds of thousands of dollars of stolen tools, cars and machinery on his farm near Marysville.

Dold asked the judge for a special sentencing alternative for Vanputten, which would cut his prison time in half and require him to undergo a lengthy drug treatment program.

But Farris said he was not a good candidate for treatment and instead adopted deputy prosecutor Ron Doersch’s recommendation for an eight-year prison term.

The case stems from a 2002 investigation by the sheriff’s office and the county’s Regional Drug Task Force. Officers found more than two dozen stolen cars and trucks, a $48,000 backhoe, numerous hand and power tools, and materials associated with manufacturing meth.

A victim, contractor Lloyd Boyd of Arlington, told the judge that $40,000 of his company’s tools had been found on the Vanputten property. He said the defendant should get as much time behind bars as the law allows.

Dold told the judge that Vanputten, 34, already had lost everything, including his house and the lease on his farm. He cooperated with police when they came to his property and even helped them find stolen goods, Dold said.

The property had been stolen by others, Dold said.

Even after the first bunch of stolen property was found, “he didn’t have enough backbone to tell them to get off his property,” Dold said. He said the special sentencing scheme was made for people like Vanputten.

“A longtime treatment program is in the best interest of Curtis and the community,” Dold argued.

But Farris noted that the harboring of stolen property didn’t stop even after the initial searches of his property.

“You have not shown yourself to be an appropriate candidate for this program,” Farris told him.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.