Pueblo County man pleads guilty to federal charges after butane hash oil lab causes explosion

PUEBLO, Colo. (KKTV) - A Pueblo County man has pleaded guilty to federal charges connected with an illegal butane hash oil operation he was running out of his rental home.

Law enforcement first became aware of Jeremiah Bryant in May 2020 when an explosion in his lab caused a fire. At the time of the explosion, 11 News reported seeing lab equipment, tubs of marijuana and weapons hauled out of the house. Detectives also recovered intricate equipment used to make hash oil, including several butane tanks.

“Most of it is just the stuff they use for the lab. They have pots. They actually have the marijuana that they’re extracting the oil from. You can see some of the kettle pots back here is what they do,” Capt. Leroy Mora with the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office told 11 News in 2020.

The home, located on Tierra Buena Drive in Pueblo West, had to be condemned.

In 2022, the sheriff’s office announced Bryant had been arrested on a federal warrant following a federal grand jury indictment linked to the house explosion. Charges included:

Manufacture, possession with intent to manufacture and distribute a controlled substance – tetrahydrocannabinols (THC)

Possession with intent to manufacture and distribute a controlled substance – marijuana

Maintaining a drug-involved premises

Creating substantial risk of harm to human life while illegally manufacturing controlled substances

Tuesday, the sheriff’s office announced Bryant pleaded guilty on all charges in U.S. District Court in Denver. He will be sentenced in June.

Investigators say his hash oil operation was used to produce vape cartridges.

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