Phelan Man Sentenced for Knife Attack

An incident in Phelan, Alabama shows how methamphetamine can ruin family relationships and how dangerous addiction to the drug can be.

A Phelan man will be spending time in prison for assaulting his father last December and leaving him with multiple stab wounds.

Joshua Lee Chaney, 24, has already pled guilty to charges of second-degree assault and was was given a 10-year sentence of imposed confinement.

According to Sheriff’s investigators, Chaney stabbed his father, Rickey Lee Chaney, while he was sleeping on the sofa at his home.  Joshua Chaney stabbed his father because his father allegedly hid the components he used to make methamphetamine from his son.  This led to the fight in which Joshua stabbed his father with a pocket knife many times.  The elder Chaney was admitted to Cullman Regional Medical Center.

According to reports, the younger Chaney left the home after the attack, but then later returned to pick up his pack of cigarettes and allegedly attacked his father again.

Throughout that week, the Cullman County Circuit Clerk’s office processed 56 plea deals, 26 of which were related to drug offenses.

A DEA report from March 2008  says that meth has been named the number one drug threat in Alabama for the second year in a row.  The DEA also say that the number of meth labs in the state have decreased due to the restriction of the sale of pseudoephedrine, which meth manufacturers could at one time by over the counter from pharmacies in the form of allery and cold medications.  One reason meth is still a major threat to Alabama is because Mexican drug trafficking organizations have stepped up their supply of meth in the state.  The meth being found in Alabama, is a purer form of the drug called “ice”,  and is coming to the state through Mexican DTO’s and from Texas as well.  Also, the drug is being brought into Alabama through independent dealers in Atlanta, Georgia.

The attack on the elder Chaney by the younger Chaney was due to meth as they were involved in making the drug and meth was the impetus behind the attack.

 

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