According to
The News Tribune,
Stephen Wesley Ungerbuehler — who was known as
Steve Unger when he played bass for
METAL CHURCH from 2004 to 2009 — was convicted on Monday (August 20) on one count of unlawful manufacture of a controlled substance. Two more serious felony charges — leading organized crime and money laundering — were rejected by the jurors, who deliberated for two hours after a three-week trial.
Deputy prosecutor
Karen Platt argued that
Ungerbuehler was the leader of a marijuana-growing enterprise that raked in profits he laundered through his personal bank accounts.
A conviction for leading organized crime, the most serious count, would have carried a prison sentence of about five years.
Ungerbuehler's lawyer,
Jay Berneburg, argued that his client helped a friend sick with cancer grow marijuana so she could use it as medicine.
The musician has most recently toured and recorded with
WHERE ANGELS SUFFER (
W.A.S.), which features in its ranks ex-
W.A.S.P. guitarist
Chris Holmes,
Ira Black (guitar;
METAL CHURCH,
LIZZY BORDEN,
HEATHEN),
Rich Lewis (vocals;
ANIMAL) and
Stet Howland (drums; ex-
W.A.S.P.).
