Springfield, Ill. - Rodger A. Heaton, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, announced that a Carlinville, Illinois woman was sentenced today to serve nine years in federal prison for conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine and attempted retaliation against a witness. U.S. District Judge Jeanne E. Scott sentenced Jessica L. Rabich, 25, of the 11000 block of Liberty Church Lane, Carlinville, Illinois, to serve 108 months imprisonment followed by four years supervised release.

Rabich’s co-conspirator, James J. Denby Jr., 46, also of the 11000 block of Liberty Church Lane in Carlinville, Illinois, is scheduled to be sentenced on June 23, 2008 at 1:30 p.m. On February 28, 2008, Denby pled guilty to conspiracy to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine, stealing and transporting stolen anhydrous ammonia, and maintaining a drug manufacturing property.

Rabich pled guilty on August 20, 2007, to conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and attempted retaliation against a witness. Rabich admitted she conspired with Denby and others to manufacture methamphetamine from February 2006 to November 2006. Rabich also admitted she attempted to pay an individual to injure a potential case witness in December 2006. Rabich has remained in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service since her arrest on January 3, 2007.

The case against Rabich and Denby was investigated by agents with the South Central Illinois Drug Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Illinois State Police. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Harris.