About FlashAlert on Twitter:
FlashAlert utilizes the free service Twitter to distribute emergency text messages. While you are welcome to register your cell phone text message address directly into the FlashAlert system, we recommend that you simply "follow" the FlashAlert account for U.S. Attorney's Office - District of Oregon by clicking on the link below and logging in to (or creating) your free Twitter account. Twitter sends messages out exceptionally fast thanks to arrangements they have made with the cell phone companies.
EUGENE, Ore. – On Wednesday, December 5, 2018, William E. Wild, Sr., 48, of Redmond, Oregon, was sentenced to 120 days in federal prison and three years’ supervised release for endangering human life by manufacturing hash oil, a controlled substance.
According to court documents, on December 12, 2016, law enforcement and first responders responded to an explosion at Wild’s residence in Redmond. The explosion occurred in a detached garage where the defendant had been illegally manufacturing butane hash oil (BHO). The force of the explosion blew out Wild’s garage door. By his own admission, Wild had been smoking a cigarette in close proximity to the lab at the time of the explosion.
Officers on scene reported finding burnt clothing, a pressure cooker, a Pyrex dish, a large bin of marijuana stem bud and seed as well as an amber substance later identified as BHO. Officers also found a grow room adjacent to the garage with more than 20 mature marijuana plants. In total, investigators seized 57 mature marijuana plants; scales; packaging materials and containers; ledgers containing drug amounts, debts and receipts; approximately $20,000 in cash and several pipe bombs in Wild’s home.
Wild and his 18-year-old daughter were present at the time of the explosion, suffered burns and smoke inhalation and were transported by ambulance from the residence. Wild’s daughter was later intubated and flown by air-ambulance to Portland for treatment.
Wild, a first-time offender, previously pleaded guilty to one count of endangering human life on August 16, 2018. A restitution hearing is scheduled for February 7, 2019.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in partnership with the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement team (CODE), the Oregon State Police and the Redmond police and fire departments. It was prosecuted by Pamela Paaso, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.
# # #