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PROVIDENCE, RI – Two Rhode Island businessmen responsible for running a butane honey oil (BHO) lab inside a Providence warehouse where a massive fire erupted in March 2015, destroying the warehouse and causing more than $1 million dollars in damages, were sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., to two years probation with community service.
Graeme Marshall, 52, of Cranston, and Christopher White, 51, of Providence, appeared before U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., in August 2017, for change of plea hearings. White pleaded guilty to endangering human life while manufacturing a controlled substance. Marshall pleaded guilty to money laundering. According to court documents and other evidence presented to the Court, White and Marshall used a portion of the Kinsley Avenue warehouse to operate a butane hash oil manufacturing laboratory. The fire that destroyed the warehouse began inside the room where the lab was located.
BHO labs are highly dangerous facilities used to extract tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a Schedule I controlled substance found in marijuana plants, through the use of butane.
Over a period of approximately two years, White and Marshall manufactured over 1,000 grams of BHO inside the Kinsley Avenue warehouse, which they sold for between $15 and $30 per gram. In addition to operating the BHO lab, Marshall and White operated a business that sold equipment and supplies for marijuana cultivation.
The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range of imprisonment in the matter of the United States vs. Christopher White is 41-51 months. The U.S. Sentencing Guidelines range of imprisonment in the matter of the United States vs. Graeme Marshall is 37-46. In each matter, the government recommended a sentence within the U.S. Sentencing guidelines and a fine of $83,472. No fines were imposed.
The matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Providence Arson Squad, Providence Police Department, Rhode Island State Police and Rhode Island State Fire Marshal’s Office.
The sentences are announced by United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch, Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Division of ATF, Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Pare, and Colonel Ann C. Assumpico, Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.
The cases were prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sandra R. Hebert and Richard B. Myrus.
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Jim Martin
(401) 709-5357