Two men who allowed a friend to manufacture hash oil using butane gas that caused an explosion and fire at the Hampton Greens apartment complex in Bellevue two years ago received three-year prison sentences in U.S. District Court on Monday.
Daniel J. Strycharske, 29, and Jesse D. Kaplan, 32, were renting a unit at the apartment complex in 2013, where they let David R. Schultz manufacture hash oil processed using a butane injection method. The plan was to share the profits.
Residents awoke to an explosion on Nov. 5, 2013, caused by gas leaking into the apartment and igniting. Eight exploded cans of butane found in the parking lot and shrubs were recorded by investigators.
Schultz was sentenced to nine years in prison by U.S. District Judge James L. Robart in early June.
Seven people, including Schultz, Strycharske and Kaplan, were injured in the blast and subsequent fire.
Bellevue’s first female mayor, Nan Campbell, 87, tripped and fell while escaping. She later died from medical complications following hospitalization.
The explosion and fire caused $2 million in damage and the loss of $500,000 in belongings.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, in a statement, reported Robart went with longer sentences than are typically issued in the hopes of deterring others from attempting to profit from hash oil manufacturing.
Strycharske and Kaplan also face three years of probation after completing their prison sentences.
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