Guilty plea scheduled in meth case

A Verona couple are scheduled to plead guilty today to federal drug trafficking and firearm charges stemming from $1 million in guns, cash, vehicles and methamphetamine found at their home in February.

Capping a nearly two-year investigation, the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office arrested Douglas Jay Rankin, 45, and Lisa Drumheller Rankin, 41, on five felony charges that in March were moved to U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg.

Federal charges against Douglas Rankin include conspiracy to distribute 500 or more grams of meth, distribution of meth, unlawful firearm possession by a convicted felon and possession of a machine gun in furtherance of drug distribution. He faces possible life in prison, with a minimum 30-year recommended sentence for the machine gun charge.

Lisa Rankin is charged with unlawful transport of a firearm.

If convicted, the couple would forfeit any property, cash and firearms obtained with drug money or used in drug trafficking, including more than $169,000 cash, 23 guns and 26 vehicles — dump trucks, pickup trucks, four-wheelers and cars — seized from their Parkins Lane home by Augusta County deputies and members of the WASSP Task Force.

Authorities found 552 grams of meth with a street value of more than $500,000 during the search.

A federal forfeiture notice lists two Verona properties as subject to seizure, including the 11-acre property on Parkins Lane that authorities raided. County records value that property at $287,500.

Federal pre-trial motions include a defense request for a continuation to review which assets might not be forfeited as part of a plea agreement. No ruling was made on those assets.

Court documents state the Rankins began meth distribution in fall 2003, and put their earnings toward big-ticket purchases, including a motor home, a Bobcat loader and dump trucks used for Douglas Rankin’s “Big D” trucking company.

The couple moved as much as “several” pounds of meth each week, Augusta County Sheriff Randy Fisher said after their arrest.

Douglas Rankin remains in custody at Rockingham Regional Jail; Lisa Rankin has been free on bond since March.