Troy Maris Oberton, 53, Little Falls, is facing a felony first degree methamphetamine manufacturing charge in Morrison County District Court.
The charge allegedly stems from a July 7 incident, when an officer responded to a potential shoplifting incident at a Little Falls business. Store personnel also said the suspect caused damage to the store two days prior by mixing toxic chemicals.
The officer went to the business and stopped Oberton as he was leaving with a cart of items.
It was allegedly discovered that Oberton had not paid for a bottle of butane, which Oberton said had been an accident.
A female passenger who has not been charged, allegedly gave officers consent to search the vehicle.
Officers allegedly noticed two black bags in the vehicle. When Oberton gave the officers the bags, they allegedly found drug paraphernalia.
Officers found more alleged paraphernalia, a small amount of meth and a two-liter bottle containing what appeared to be chemicals, allegedly identified as a “shake and bake” meth lab.
Oberton allegedly said he had tried to produce meth using instructions from the internet, but the batch blew up on him
If convicted, Oberton faces up to 15 years in prison and/or a $500,000 fine. This is half of the maximum sentence for meth manufacturing because according to Minnesota law, an attempted crime in most cases carries half the sentence of a crime that was completed.