Vallejo couple charged with running methamphetamine pill press from elder-care facility

A Vallejo couple was indicted on several drug-related charges Thursday after the two allegedly ran a methamphetamine pill press out of an elder-care facility.

Henry Benson, 37, and Roselle Cipriano, 35, both of Vallejo, were accused of manufacturing, possessing and distributing methamphetamine while running an elder-care facility they owned in Vallejo and possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California.

The two allegedly manufactured pills they advertised as MDMA but contained methamphetamine and were various colors, shapes and sizes, with some depicting the Kool-Aid Man, President Donald Trump and the Tesla logo, among others, according to the release.

The facility was searched Feb. 7, and agents seized a pill press, 31 pounds of methamphetamine packaged into pills, 17 pounds of what was believed to be methamphetamine, other powders and manufacturing equipment and a shotgun, according to the release.

In a search of a storage facility rented by Benson and Cipriano the next day, agents seized five more pill presses, hazmat gear and more powders that investigators suspected to be narcotics, according to the release.

The couple is in custody awaiting trial. Each faces 10 years to life in prison and a $1 million fine.