SEATTLE – Four men charged in July 2014 with two separate hash oil explosions that injured a former mayor plead guilty this week in U.S. District Court, officials announced Wednesday.
The explosions occurred in Kirkland on January 1, 2014 and in Bellevue on November 5, 2013.
Daniel Strycharske, 28, and Jesse D. Kaplan, 31, will be sentenced in March.
Both plead guilty to endangering human life while manufacturing controlled substances, maintaining a drug involved premises and manufacturing hash oil and marijuana in connection with the Bellevue explosion and fire on November 5, 2013 at the Hampton Greens apartment complex, officials said.
Former Bellevue Mayor Nan Campbell was hospitalized for a broken pelvis she suffered trying to escape the flames. She later died following complications after her hospitalization.
The Bellvue Reporter reported that Campbell, 87, told responders at the Bellevue fire she tripped and fell while escaping the blaze, hurting her hip; a Kirkland firefighter noted burn marks on her robe. She died in the hospital on Nov. 19, 2013.
The medical examiner’s office determined the cause of death was aspiration pneumonia and urinary tract infection due to prolonged hospitalization and immobility due to pelvic fracture with hematoma, according to the Bellvue Reporter.
She was elected Bellevue’s first female mayor in 1988 after serving two terms on the City Council. The explosion and subsequent fire caused $1.5 million in damage and the loss of $500,000 in belongings, the Bellvue Reporter stated in its report.
Two other apartment residents suffered shattered bones as they had to jump from their upper level apartments.
Monday, Robby Wayne Meiser, 46, and Bruce W. Mark, 62, pleaded guilty to endangering human life while manufacturing controlled substances in connection with the January 1, 2014 explosion and fire at the Inglenook Apartments in Kirkland, according to authorities.
The explosion and fire threw debris some 25 feet, moved the north wall of the building 6-8 inches, and disconnected the roof from the building walls, officials said.
The defendants are facing long prison sentences, according to federal sentencing guidelines.
- Endangering human life while manufacturing controlled substances is punishable by up to ten years in prison.
- Maintaining a Drug Involved Premises is punishable by up to 20 years in prison
- Manufacturing Hash Oil and Marijuana is punishable by up to five years in prison.