Trial Set in Sale of Chemical to Make ‘Speed’ : Courts: A Westminster man is the first person in the state to be charged under a law regulating the sale of certain chemicals used in illegal drug manufacturing.

SANTA ANA —  In the first criminal case of its kind in California, the manager of a Placentia chemical supply company faces charges that he sold a key ingredient of illegal methamphetamine to a known manufacturer of the drug.

Thomas M. Schultz, 32, of Westminster, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two felony counts related to the alleged sale of 15 gallons of hydriodic acid worth $4,500 to members of a federal undercover operation.

Schultz, manager of Chem Lab Supplies’ Placentia operation, pleaded not guilty to the charges Monday in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana. He was arrested Friday at Chem Lab after a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted him. He has been released on $50,000 bail.

Schultz’s trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 12 before U.S. District Judge Alicemarie Stotler. Each count of distributing hydriodic acid carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Chem Lab, which also has a retail outlet in Hawthorne in Los Angeles County, was not indicted. The company’s attorney, Marshall Glick, denied any wrongdoing by the company and said Tuesday that Schultz has been suspended from work pending the outcome of the criminal case and an internal Chem Lab investigation.

“At this time, there is no reason to believe it’s more than an act by one person,” Glick said.

Schultz declined to comment Tuesday on the charges against him.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, Schultz is the first person in the state to be prosecuted under the federal Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act of 1988, which went into effect in March. The new law regulates the sale of certain chemicals used to make illegal drugs.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Edward R. McGah Jr., the prosecutor, alleges that Schultz sold hydriodic acid twice last summer to a manufacturer of methamphetamine, who was cooperating with DEA agents. It is alleged that Schultz supplied the chemical knowing that the buyer was a maker of the powerful stimulant.

DEA agents said Tuesday that hydriodic acid, which is very caustic, has no legitimate uses in the amounts they alleged they bought from Schultz at Chem Lab.

Methamphetamine, which is known as “crank” or “speed,” can be made in two days using something as small as a crock pot or as large as a five-gallon flask. About $10,000 worth of chemicals and $2,000 worth of lab equipment can make about $200,000 worth of the drug.

Law enforcement authorities say methamphetamine is generally made in clandestine laboratories throughout Southern California, particularly Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

Investigators say the manufacturers get their chemicals, which are heavily regulated by state and federal law, on the black market or from sources within the chemical supply industry.

Federal authorities estimate that rogue chemists will make at least 25 tons of methamphetamine in the United States this year, enough to feed the habits of 1.5 million to 2 million methamphetamine users.