County District Court Judge James Broberg Tuesday handed down a prison sentence of 153 months &045; 12 years, eight months &045;for Jason Patrick Tope, 27, for conspiring to produce

methamphetamine.

Police arrested Tope and his borther, Shawn, in November 2001 for producing meth at his Albert Lea residence at 205 Giles Place.

The clandestine meth lab in the middle of the city drew the attention of the public, as well as the attorney general’s office, which decided to handle the prosecution.

The case became even more notorious when Tope escaped from his cell in the Freeborn County Jail in February 2002. Tope was at large until he was caught at a St. Paul hideout about a month later.

Broberg based his sentence on the state guideline.

Other meth-related charges &045; manufacturing and aiding and abetting manufacturing &045; and a prison escape charge were dismissed in exchange for a guilty plea from Tope.

Still pending against Tope is a first-degree witness-tampering charge, stemming from an incident when he allegedly used a jail payphone to call and threaten an anonymous witness who was scheduled to testify in his trial.

After a failed attempt to move the trial to another county, Tope pled guilty to the conspiracy charge March 3.