Federal charges have been filed against three Ames residents accused of running a methamphetamine lab in Iowa State’s University Village student apartments.

Rodney George Backous, 41, his girlfriend Sally Lynn Reedholm, 38, and his ex-wife Laurie Ann Backous, 37, have been charged with conspiring to distribute meth during the last seven years, beginning in September 1991.

The new federal charges, approved by a U.S. District Court grand jury on Oct. 20, are expected to overshadow state charges. Story County charges against Reedholm were dropped Thursday.

State charges must be dismissed before federal prosecutors can move forward, and they are expected to be dropped against Laurie Backous, a former ISU student, and Rodney Backous as soon as they are served with new federal charges, said Paul Tanaka, director of University Legal Services.

Rodney Backous, Laurie Backous and Reedholm each face federal charges that could put them in federal prison for life.

Rodney Backous currently is in the Story County Jail and has been charged with 10 additional federal drug counts and a maximum prison sentence of two life terms plus 240 years.

Reedholm is in federal custody and faces eight additional charges and a maximum sentence of two life terms plus 200 years.

Laurie Backous remains at large and faces five additional charges and a maximum sentence of two life terms plus 150 years.

Rodney Backous “had prior run-ins with the law enforcement,” said John Tinker, manager of the Central Iowa Drug Task Force.

Tinker said Rodney Backous had been involved in buying precursors that are known to be used in meth production. He was mentioned in drug investigations numerous times over the past three years and has been implicated in dealing drugs by four informants, according to police records.

Director of Public Safety Loras Jaeger said the task force “took down a relatively small operation” in Laurie Backous’ apartment at 136D University Village.

“This is what Tinker would classify as a ‘mom and pop’ kind of operation — it might be small, but it’s still very dangerous,” Jaeger said.

Tinker said the accused were not distributing the drugs nationally, but he had no information on whether they were distributing meth in the Ames area or to ISU students.

He said if ISU students were using Rodney Backous as their dealer, it would not necessarily mean the students would be caught as a result of this arrest because “every situation is different.”

Numerous reports of Rodney Backous purchasing precursors led to the task force receiving a search warrant to raid Laurie Backous’ apartment on Sept. 22, where Reedholm and Rodney Backous were found.

The task force vacated the area and the drug team came to clean up the chemicals, Tinker said. Police seized dozens of items from the apartment, including cans of starting fluid, a metal pot with sludge, basic solvent, two 32-ounce cans of acetone, denatured alcohol, a gallon of muriatic acid and chemistry equipment.

“The chemicals used in meth production are very volatile, so there was a concern that they might catch fire and explode,” Tinker said. “It’s a big concern.”