PRINCETON-A man who eluded police for more than a year after he was charged in 2005 with multiple drug counts was sentenced to nine years in prison Thursday in Gibson County Circuit Court.

Homer W. Dersch, 35, of Oakland City, pleaded guilty to felony counts of manufacturing meth, a class B felony, and possession of marijuana with a prior conviction and cultivation of marijuana with a prior conviction, both class D felonies, according to Gibson County Prosecutor Rob Krieg.

Circuit Court Judge Jeff Meade sentenced Dersch to nine years in the Indiana Dept. of Corrections for the B felony, plus concurrent sentences of 18 months each for the D felony convictions.

On June 19, 2005, police were called to Dersch's mobile home in Oakland City, where they found what was later revealed to be a marijuana plant growing on top of the trailer. Emily Young, one of two women outside the trailer when police arrived, told officers she lived at the residence with Dersch.

Police said they smelled ether coming from the trailer, but were denied entrance to the home by Young. After obtaining a search warrant, officers entered the trailer where they confirmed the plant on top of the home was marijuana. They also found many items commonly used to make meth, including scales, ether, coffee filters and a small propane tank with a torch nozzle, and other drug paraphernalia, according to Krieg.

Outside the home officers said they found a soft drink bottle with white residue inside it, empty pseudoephedrine pill packs and empty cans of ether and camp fuel.

An arrest warrant was issued for Dersch and Young, but both remained at large for about 16 months, until they were finally arrested in Tennessee on Nov. 2, 2006. Both suspects have been housed at the Gibson County Jail since their arrest.

Young has also entered her intent to plead guilty to drug-related charges filed against her, Krieg said. She is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 26 in Circuit Court.

Krieg said this conviction sends an important message to all residents in the county, particularly those in East Gibson, that he will continue to press forward in an attempt to drive the plague of meth out of their communities.

The prosecutor also said he expects many more meth-related convictions to come from cases involving the Oakland City and East Gibson area because local law enforcement officers have done such an outstanding job in taking the fight against drugs to the dealers and cookers.