Police arrest four on meth lab charges

MILTON -- Four people are facing multiple felony charges related to an alleged methamphetamine lab after they were arrested Thursday evening at a residence in Milton.

Billey Jean Forth, 31, and Jennifer Leann Setliff, 25, were incarcerated at 12:10 a.m. Friday at Western Regional Jail. Also arrested were Setliff's husband, William Henson Setliff, 21, and a second man, Ambrose Chapman, 37. The four were being housed at Western Regional Jail in Barboursville.

Authorities in Cabell County have charged Forth with operating or attempting to operate a clandestine drug lab and abuse or neglect of an incapacitated adult. Chapman was charged with operating or attempting to operate a clandestine drug lab. The Setliffs were each charged with two counts of exposing children to methamphetamine manufacturing and operating or attempting to operate a clandestine drug lab. They were each arraigned on a $75,000 cash only bond. Bond amounts for Forth and Chapman were $35,000 and $50,000 cash only, respectively.

The arrests came after deputies from the Cabell County Sheriff's Office responded to a residence in the 1400 block of Washington Avenue in Milton to investigate an odor Thursday evening. Forth, identified as the home owner, gave written consent to a search of the premises, according to a criminal complaint filed in Cabell County Magistrate Court. Found in the back room during the search were items used to make meth, pseudoephedrine in an altered state, empty Gatorade bottles with meth residue and other drug paraphernalia, the complaint said.

Law enforcement officials also observed an incapacitated adult who requires full-time care, identified as Forth's sister, at the residence, and the Setliffs' two children, ages 5 and 6, who had been sleeping in a room adjacent to where the drug materials were located.

If convicted, Chapman and the Setliffs each face up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $25,000. Forth faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

A hearing date for the four has been set for 10:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 11.

Follow H-D reporter Beth Hendricks on Facebook or Twitter @BethHendricksHD.