CASSOPOLIS — Judge Michael Dodge gave Matthew Mann, 43, of M-60, Jones, 48, months to 20 years in prison with credit for 144 days for meth-related charges May 22 on North First Street in Cassopolis.

Mann Aug. 17 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deliver/manufacture meth, operate/maintain a hazardous waste lab, operate/maintain a lab near specified places, operate/maintain a meth lab, meth possession, maintaining a drug house and, on June 28 at the Cass County Jail, maliciously destroying police property.

In Cass County Circuit Court Friday, prosecutor Victor Fitz said Mann, supported in court by three generations of his family, was “self-destructing” and enlisted eight people for the meth lab in a residential neighborhood.

Defense attorney Dale Blunier said recurring drug problems interrupt Mann’s several-year stretches of good jobs. “He wants to get over this and be a good person. He loves his family and is a very compassionate person.”

“I’d like the court to know I’ve taken ownership of this since the moment of my arrest,” Mann said.

Dodge said two prior convictions for drunk driving and delivering a controlled substance in Elkhart “should have been a wake-up call.”