Drug maker who videotaped himself gets 35 years

RIVERSIDE, California (CNN) -- A California man who videotaped himself cooking methamphetamine was sentenced to 35 years to life in prison under the state's "three strikes" law.

Because it was his third offense, Aaron Yost, 34, of Hemet, California, received a mandated term of 25 years to life. Riverside Superior Court Judge J. Thompson Hanks tacked on 10 more years because of the amount of methamphetamine involved.

Yost was convicted May 2 of manufacturing methamphetamine and possessing the drug ephedrine with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine. Jurors convicted Yost of manufacturing more than 25 gallons of methamphetamine oil, used in making the illegal narcotic.

During the trial, jurors watched a home video of the wise-cracking defendant injecting chemicals into a glass jar and amazing himself with the high yield of methamphetamine. Sheriff's deputies seized the tape during a 1996 raid at a mobile home in Homeland where Yost had a drug lab.

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