Nazareth man injured in methamphetamine explosion headed for state prison

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

A Nazareth man severely burned in October when a methamphetamine lab exploded in his apartment was sentenced to state prison today.

Clay W. Rutt, 54, wearing a burn wrap on his left arm, claimed he was manufacturing the drug for personal use. Rutt said he was burned by chemicals in a soda bottle, not by an explosion with flames.

Northampton County Judge Paula Roscioli said Rutt’s drug-making operation was not sophisticated, but dangerous nonetheless.

“You having an explosion and burning yourself is exactly the kind of result we fear when people go out and do this,” Roscioli said, noting that Rutt was in an apartment and close to other people. “Your behavior was reckless and irresponsible.”

Roscioli sentenced Rutt to four and a half to nine years in state prison for manufacturing meth, a felony, with credit for the seven months Rutt already served.

Roscioli also ordered Rutt to pay $2,200 for state police lab tests and clean up, a $2,500 fine and court costs.

Rutt was hospitalized for four months after the chemicals he was mixing exploded inside his apartment Oct. 23 in the 100 block of South Main Street.

Authorities investigated Rutt for about a year before the explosion but did not have enough evidence to charge him, borough police previously said.

At the explosion, authorities found evidence of a “substantial” meth-making operation in Rutt’s apartment, police said.

Police said they found empty packages of cold medicine, multiple lithium batteries cut in half, propane fuel, paint thinner, drain cleaner and other meth-making materials.

Witnesses told police that following the explosion a burning plastic bottle with white residue was thrown from Rutt’s apartment window. Lab tests of white residue found in other containers confirmed it was methamphetamine, records say.

In court today, Rutt said he has used meth since the 1980s and regularly used it until his arrest.

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