Two Plead Guilty in Operation of Butane Hash Oil Lab

PROVIDENCE – Two men pleaded guilty today in federal court in Providence, admitting to their roles in the operation of a butane hash oil (BHO) manufacturing laboratory inside a former warehouse in Providence. Investigators believe that a March 9, 2015 fire, which destroyed the Kinsley Avenue warehouse, began in a room where the BHO lab was located.

Appearing before U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., Christopher White, 51, of Warwick, pleaded guilty to endangering human life while illegally manufacturing a controlled substance. Graeme Marshall, 52, of Cranston, pleaded guilty to money laundering.

Christopher White and Graeme Marshall’s guilty pleas are announced by Acting United States Attorney Stephen G. Dambruch; Mickey Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Division of  Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Michael J. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New England Field Division; Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven M. Pare; and Colonel Ann C. Assumpico, Rhode Island Public Safety Commissioner and Superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police.

According to court documents and information presented to the court, White and Marshall operated Grosca, LLC, a company that leased the warehouse where White and Marshall operated a business that designed, produced and sold indoor equipment and supplies for indoor marijuana cultivation.

According to court documents, White and Marshall used a portion of the warehouse to operate a BHO lab, which, over a period of approximately two years, was used to manufacture over 1,000 grams of hash oil that was sold for between $15 and $30 per gram. Proceeds from the sale of hash oil were deposited into a Grosca, LLC, bank account, comingled with proceeds from the sale of equipment and other Grosca, LLC ventures. The transactions were designed to conceal the nature, source, ownership and control of the proceeds of the hash oil sales.

White and Marshall are scheduled to be sentenced on November 13, 2017.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sandra R. Hebert.

The matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Drug Enforcement Administration; Providence Police Department; Providence Fire Marshal’s Office; Rhode Island State Police; and the Rhode Island State Fire Marshal’s Office.

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