Abbeville woman sentenced to 12 years for meth lab

An Abbeville woman arrested last year in connection to the operation of a meth lab in the city has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Judge Laurie Hulin handed down a 12-year sentence of hard labor to Sondra Evans, 50, last Thursday.
Hulin issued the sentence after Evans withdrew her not guilty plea. Evans had initially pleaded not guilty to principal to operation of a clandestine laboratory and principal to possession of drug paraphernalia.
As part of the plea, Evans will serve her sentence at the Louisiana Transition Center for Women in Tallulah, where she take part in substance abuse treatment. Evans is also ordered to pay court costs of $460, pay the Vermilion Parish Narcotics Task Force $250, pay $150 to the Louisiana Department of Public Safety and pay $150 to the Acadiana Crime Lab.
Evans will also be required to work toward obtaining a GED if not a high school graduate diploma. Upon her release, Evans must seek permission from the court for any change of address and must submit to random drug screens.
Evans, who had been held in the Vermilion Parish Correctional Center since her arrest, will receive credit for time served.
The Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested Evans, along with three others, last June.
Deputies received a tip that a meth lab was operating out of a home at the 1200 block of Clover Street in Abbeville.
When deputies arrived at the home, they reportedly smelled a pungent odor, one they believed to be that of a meth lab. Deputies got permission to search the home, where they found the meth lab under a tree just outside the residence.
Deputies also located two children, ages 1 and 2, inside the residence. The Office of Child Protective Services later deemed the home unsafe for the children.
Deputies contacted State Police, who brought in to neutralize the lab.