A former co-director of the UCLA Drug Policy Analysis Program
was convicted Monday of running one of the largest LSD laboratories
in history ““ out of an old missile silo.
William Leonard Pickard, who was employed at UCLA for nearly two
years, and Clyde Apperson, his assistant, were convicted Monday of
two counts each of conspiring to distribute and manufacture large
amounts of LSD.
On Oct. 31, 2000, the Drug Enforcement Agency discovered an old
missile silo in Kansas that had been used as an LSD lab. The lab
had been taken apart and was packed up in storage boxes.
In the silo, agents found 90.86 pounds of LSD and 14 canisters
of a chemical needed to produce LSD. The canisters were valued at
over $1,000,000.
Pickard and Apperson were arrested on Nov. 6, 2000 outside
Wamego, Kansas while trying to move their drug lab using a rental
truck.
According to court testimony, Pickard and Apperson formerly
produced LSD in Sante Fe, New Mexico. Every five weeks, they
produced 2.2 pounds of LSD ““ approximately 10 million
doses.
The LSD, which could be sold for about $10 per dose, was being
shipped to California and Europe for distribution, according to
court testimony.
Pickard, who was employed at UCLA from 1999 until about two
months before his arrest in 2000, was the co-director of the Drug
Policy Analysis Program.
The program, which is a part of the School of Public Policy,
focuses on researching the effects of drug policy issues on the
public, said Mark Kleiman, professor of public policy and director
of the program.
Kleiman, who worked with Pickard, said he did not want to
comment on the conviction of his former colleague.
“I can’t think of anything to say that will make
this situation better and not worse. As you can imagine, this will
be a very painful situation for a lot of people,” Kleiman
said.
Pickard’s employment did not end because of anything
related to his later arrest, Kleiman said.
The conviction was not Pickard’s first.
In 1976, Pickard was convicted of making LSD. In 1980, he was
arrested for allegedly selling a hallucinogenic drug, MDMA, more
commonly known as ecstasy. In 1988, he was arrested for allegedly
vacating a LSD lab hidden in a Mountain View warehouse as it was
raided.
Pickard faced 20 years in prison if convicted in 1988, but
according to a court affidavit, charges were dropped because he was
an informant.
According to trial evidence, three of the four complete LSD lab
seizures in the history of the DEA have involved Pickard and
Apperson, including a lab in Oregon in 1996, a lab in Mountain View
in 1998, and the lab in Kansas in 2000.
Kleiman would not comment on why Pickard was hired despite his
history of drug convictions and arrests.
UCLA does not have a definitive policy against convicted drug
traffickers, said Lynne Thompson, manager of employee and labor
relations.
Pickard and Apperson each face a minimum of ten years and a
maximum of life in federal prison. Their sentencing is set for Aug.
8.