Havre man pleads guilty to operating meth lab

Shawn Kessler of Havre pleaded guilty Monday to a felony charge of operating an illegal clandestine laboratory.

Kessler entered a plea agreement in which the defense is asking for an eight-year prison term, with all but two years suspended, and a $600 fine. The court is not bound to the recommendations of the plea agreement, however, and Kessler may still face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine when he appears for sentencing on Aug. 21.

A June 6 raid of a suspected methamphetamine lab in a Havre house by the Tri-Agency Task Force landed Kessler and others in jail, according to court records. He is the second defendant to plead guilty.