A Butler woman who pleaded guilty to operating a methamphetamine lab while squatting in a vacant home was sentenced to serve up to a year in jail Thursday by Butler County Judge Timothy McCune.

Nikki Jo West, 33, who also goes by the alias Nikki Jo Haynes, was initially charged by the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office in May, along with Ronald L. Tejchman, 33.

West, who also pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiracy, was sentenced to a minimum of six months up to 12 months in jail, followed by 12 months of probation. She will receive credit for her time served since being jailed in May.

She also must complete 25 hours of community service and pay two $100 fines.

City police originally found West and Tejchman in the home and discovered a one-pot meth lab, authorities previously said.

The attorney general’s clandestine lab team was called in to assist and sweep the property for potentially dangerous and hazardous materials used to cook meth.

Officers found a folded piece of paper containing suspected meth inside West’s purse. The purse also had a pill bottle filled with sulfuric acid and the top of a gas generator, both used in the production of methamphetamine; a used syringe and two crack pipes, police said.

Among items seized from the home, according to court documents, were sodium hydroxide, ammonium nitrate, lithium batteries, sodium chloride and pseudoephedrine, a key ingredient found in most common cold medicines and used to make meth.

In all, authorities recovered 264 grams of the drug in the home.

The pair had been found after the homeowner, who did not live in the city and had recently purchased the property, said his wife stopped by the home and found fresh food in the refrigerator.

According to court documents, the homeowner said nobody had permission to be in the home, but the couple claimed someone they knew as “Mike” said they could stay there.

A day later, police arrested Kenneth Michael Lipscomb, 44, of Clearfield Township with trespassing at the same house. Lipscomb is the uncle of the homeowner’s wife, and was previously doing remodeling work at the house before he was fired.

Tejchman still faces felony charges of manufacturing a controlled substance, operating a meth lab, possessing chemicals and other precursors with intent to manufacture a controlled substance, conspiracy and risking a catastrophe. He also was charged with misdemeanor drug possession.