Office of the District Attorney - Maggie Fleming, District Attorney
News Release
December 27, 2017
Today, Judge Dale Reinholtsen sentenced
William Edwards Woods III, 34 years-old from Eureka, to 7 years for
manufacturing concentrated cannabis using a volatile substance (a
felony
violation under Cal. Health & Safety Code section 11362.3a(6)), and an
additional 8 months for unlawful marijuana cultivation resulting in violation
of Fish and Game Code
section 1602, which prohibits unlawful water diversion
and obstructions of California’s streams (Cal. Health & Safety Code section
11358(d)(3)(D). In addition, the court sentenced
Mr. Woods on three separate
DUI cases from 2015 and 2016 to an additional 360 days in jail and 5 years of
probation, along with a 30-month DUI program and registration as a
habitual
traffic offender.
On January
25, 2017, the Humboldt Bay Fire Department, Humboldt County Drug Task Force
(“DTF”), and Humboldt County Arson Task Force, investigated a butane hash oil
(“BHO”) explosion at Mr. Woods’ residence located at 3473 Middlefield Lane in
Eureka. There, investigators discovered a commercial-scale, closed-loop BHO system,
which
included a large butane tank, five BHO ovens, over 400 pounds of
marijuana shake, and 10.5 pounds of finished concentrated cannabis. Mr. Woods
fled immediately after the
explosion, leaving a witness burned by the explosion
to drive himself to the hospital.
On August 3,
2017, Humboldt County Sheriff Deputies arrested Mr. Woods while serving a
search warrant at an unlawful marijuana cultivation site in Burr Valley.
Members of the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Watershed
Enforcement Team discovered several violations of the Fish and Game Code at the
cultivation site, including substantial
water diversions, water pollution, and
littering near a stream.
Deputy
District Attorney Adrian Kamada, who prosecuted the cases, stated, “I appreciate
the victim’s cooperation in the prosecution in Mr. Wood’s BHO case, and wish
him
continued success with his recovery. I also wish to recognize District
Attorney Investigator Marvin Kirkpatrick, Humboldt Bay Fire Chief Chris Emmons,
DTF Special Agent Tim Dias,
and the Environmental Division of the Humboldt
County Department of Health and Human Services for their work in dismantling
and removing the dangerous BHO system from
the residential neighborhood.”