Man Sentenced To Prison, Must Repay Millions After Marijuana Lab Explosion

MEDFORD, Ore. (AP) – A man has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison and ordered to repay millions of dollars for his role in a marijuana lab explosion that caused a wildfire in which a firefighter got hurt.

The Mail Tribune reports 24-year-old Michael Cashmareck was sentenced in Jackson County Circuit Court this week after pleading guilty to arson and assault charges in connection with the East Evans fire in August 2019.

He was ordered to pay nearly $4 million in restitution for causing an explosion near Rogue River that quickly became a wildfire that prompted mandatory evacuations in the neighborhood.

Cashmareck had been making butane honey oil, a concentrated marijuana extract.