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Platteville man charged with meth possession
Brandon Loken
Brandon A. Loken

The Platteville man arrested after a methamphetamine lab was found in a house search May 21 was charged May 27 with possession of methamphetamine.

Brandon A. Loken, 575 E. Mineral St., will have a preliminary hearing on a felony charge of possession of methamphetamine as a repeater in Grant County Circuit Court in Lancaster June 12 at 11:30 a.m.

Loken is in the Grant County Jail in lieu of $1,000 cash bond. Loken faces a maximum sentence of 3½ years in prison and a $10,000 fine if convicted, with up to four years added under the repeater charge.

Loken was arrested and a juvenile was taken into custody after a police search at 377 N. Chestnut St. Police were investigating the theft of a cellphone when an occupant of the house consented to the search.

During the search, officers found “what is believed to be an active one-pot meth lab” and “drug paraphernalia and items consistent with the manufacture of methamphetamine,” a police news release said.

Police were assisted by members of the Richland–Iowa–Grant Drug Task Force, the State Line Anti Narcotics Drug Task Force, Platteville EMS, the Platteville Fire Department, and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. Materials believed to be hazardous were removed from the scene by Chicago Crime Scene Cleanup.

Loken was sentenced to 1 year 10 months in prison after he pleaded no contest to second-offense possession of cocaine in 2012, according to court records.

Loken also has previous convictions for manufacture or delivery of marijuana, second-offense possession of marijuana and possession of narcotic drugs in 2010, and forgery — uttering in 2007, according to court records.