Four people who were staying in an Old Town apartment where a methamphetamine lab exploded were indicted Wednesday by the Penobscot County grand jury.
Carrie Ballanger, 32, Jason Smith, 39, Sue Smith, 37, all of Old Town and Don Dube, 47, of Glenburn were indicted on one count each of aggravated operation of a methamphetamine laboratory, a Class A crime.
The explosion occurred about 10 p.m. April 24 in an upstairs apartment on Brunswick Street. A man with injuries to his face reportedly fled the scene.
Two days later, the body of Jeffrey Miller, 50, was found in an home a few blocks away on the same street. Investigators believe Miller was making meth when he was injured.
Miller’s death was ruled accidental, Mark Belserene, spokesman for the medical examiner’s office, said Thursday in an email. Miller died of “acute intoxication” of a combination of drugs that included fentanyl, amphetamine, methamphetamine and pseudoephedrine. Burns over 20 percent of Miller’s body contributed to his death, Belserene said.
Shortly before he died, Miller was released from the Penobscot County Jail after completing a sentence for manufacturing the drug.
Attorneys for the defendants either declined to comment on the case or did not respond to an email seeking comment on behalf of their clients.
They were arrested and charged in late April. All four remained Wednesday at the Penobscot County Jail unable to post $10,000 cash bail.
The defendants are scheduled to arraigned next month at the Penobscot Judicial Center.
If convicted, each defendant faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.