Drug manufacturer sentenced
A Butler man was sentenced to state prison in Butler County Court on Thursday after previously pleading guilty just two days before to manufacturing methamphetamine in a Butler apartment.
Thomas Lee Odom, 32, was sentenced Thursday to 21 to 60 months in state prison by county Judge Timothy McCune, after pleading guilty to felony conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance on Tuesday.
He also was ordered to pay a $100 fine.
Odom initially was charged with two felony counts each of operating a methamphetamine lab, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, possession of methamphetamine precursors, misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance, and one count each of felony risking a catastrophe and conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance after an investigation by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office regarding the manufacture of methamphetamine at a Standard Avenue apartment, between Sept. 30 and Oct. 25.
Also facing charges in relation to the incident is Brian Payment Jr., 28, of Butler.
Odom was identified by multiple sources as a manufacturer of the drug. When he was arrested on Oct. 25, he was found in possession of a backpack containing products used to manufacture the drug, police said.
Processed as evidence were ammonium nitrate, sodium hydroxide, sodium chloride, sulfuric acid, petroleum distillates, lithium, one-pot cooking vessel with sludge, a gas generator, pliers, pipe cutters, tubing, and modified caps with tubing, among other items, police said.
McCune also issued an order in an unresolved parole revocation incident for Odom to serve the balance of the case — nine months — in Butler County Prison, with all time served credit he has received until July going toward that case.
Odom's attorney, Ian Walchesky, said it is believed that Odom's maximum date on that case would have been July 11, and he will be transferred to state correctional authorities.
