HAMMOND | A convicted local methamphetamine kingpin revealed his former trade secrets Monday in Hammond federal court at the second jury trial for a woman accused of dealing for the once-vast drug organization.

The first trial of Jennifer "Ginger" Schwartz, of Rockville, ended in November 2008 with a hung jury. Schwartz is charged with two counts of using a phone to commit felony methamphetamine possession with intent to distribute.

Schwartz was one of dozens of people arrested across Indiana in June 2008 in a wave of meth lab raids that netted drug broker Richard "Tricky" Kasper, 31, of Crown Point.

Kasper has signed a plea agreement with federal prosecutors, and he admitted that he is trying to testify his way to a shorter prison sentence. He is eligible for a life sentence, but he said Monday he hopes to spend 20 years in prison.

Kasper testified Monday that Schwartz worked as a meth dealer and a pseudoephedrine supplier. Kasper said Schwartz bought the governmentally restricted cold pills at pharmacies and brought them to the Kouts home where the Kasper and others combined the pills with stolen anhydrous ammonia and lithium batteries to make methamphetamine.

Kasper, who said he used and sold the drugs, told jurors the drugs helped him stay awake as long at 14 days straight. He testified to the joy he took from cooking the drugs.

"It's a rush. You're making something from nothing," Kasper said.

Schwartz's defense attorney, Charles Stewart, asked questions aimed at calling Kasper's credibility into question. Stewart noted that Kasper could gain from his testimony, and he called Kasper a liar for failing to file taxes on his drug income.