PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Scott Slagel, 41, of Westerly, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence on Friday to endangering human life while illegally manufacturing a controlled substance, announced United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha, Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA’s New England Field Division, Westerly Police Chief Edward W. St. Clair, and Colonel Steven G. O’Donnell, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.
According to information presented to the court, in the early morning hours of Nov. 27, 2015, in the wake of a fire in a multi-unit apartment building on Apache Drive in Westerly, investigators discovered an active butane hash oil lab in the unit where the fire originated. After extinguishing the fire and securing the scene, investigators located a number of items related to a butane hash oil manufacturing laboratory, including marijuana plants, multiple cans of butane, glass tubes and a vacuum oven containing butane hash oil, commonly referred to as “shatter."
Appearing before U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., Slagel admitted to the court that he used the above-described items to manufacture butane has oil in what is known as the open-blast method.
Slagel, who has been free on unsecured bond since his arraignment on April 5, 2016, is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 16, 2016.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Hebert.
The matter was investigated by the Westerly Police Department, DEA and the Rhode Island State Fire Marshal’s Office.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
