Butler man pleads guilty in felony meth lab case
A Butler man charged with manufacturing methamphetamine pleaded guilty in Butler County Court on Tuesday.
James C. Kidd, 22, pleaded guilty to felony counts of operating a methamphetamine lab and risking a catastrophe before county Judge William Shaffer.
The plea agreement calls for a sentence of 12 to 36 months in a state correctional institution and restitution.
A resolution in a parole violation case was also part of the plea, and includes a resentence to 24 months state probation following Kidd's release from prison on the other charges.
Kidd is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 7. He continues to be held in the Butler County Prison on $75,000 bail.
He was initially charged by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office with felony possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, operating a methamphetamine lab and related charges on Dec. 12, alongside Ross M. Cammisa and Melissa M. Cammisa, both of Butler. Police say the two siblings were using the home at 105 Elm Court, Butler, to manufacture the drug and Kidd was involved.
The state police Clandestine Lab Response Team, with assistance from the state attorney general's office, searched the home and turned up evidence of the manufacturing of methamphetamine, police said.
Investigators, in court documents, described the operation as “one-pot” cooking, also known as the shake-and-bake method. The practice typically uses a 2-liter soda bottle or plastic drink bottle to mix ingredients and create methamphetamine.
Authorities took a closer look outside, including in a trash bin, and noticed a plastic grocery bag containing a cold compress bag that had been cut open.
They also found lithium battery packages and batteries that had been cut open.
Kidd had been released from prison eight months before this incident, after being arrested in 2015 with two other individuals for running a methamphetamine lab out of a Summit Township mobile home where they were living.
He later pleaded guilty in the case and in May 2016 was sentenced to 11½ to 23 months in the Butler County Prison with 18 months of probation. He received credit for 310 days already served.
According to prison records, he was released May 20.
