FARMINGTON — A Kingfield man pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges involving the manufacture of methamphetamine at a mobile home at 8 Winter Road in Kingfield in 2012, according to court documents.

David L. Coffren, 29, was indicted last year on felony charges of arson and aggravated trafficking and a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child.

In a plea agreement, the arson charge was dismissed Tuesday and a felony charge of aggravated criminal mischief was added.

Coffren pleaded guilty Tuesday to aggravated trafficking of scheduled drugs, aggravated criminal mischief and endangering the welfare of a child in Franklin County Superior Court.

A conviction on the drug charge alone carries up to 30 years in prison.

A sentencing hearing is set for 8:30 a.m. Nov. 29 in Franklin County Superior Court.

There are two sentencing scenarios being discussed. One is that Coffren would serve eight years of a 12-year prison sentence and four years probation, court documents state. The other is he would serve six years of a 10-year prison sentence and four years probation.

Coffren was one of three men indicted in a “one-pot” meth lab explosion and fire at the mobile home on Feb. 8, 2012.

Coffren’s young child was in the mobile home when the drug-making and fire started, drug agents previously said.

State fire investigators believed the fire was arson, according to a court affidavit. Representatives of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and the Office of the Maine Fire Marshal investigated March 12 when a state fire investigator and a demolition crew hired to clean up the gutted mobile home and remove it believed they had found the remnants of a methamphetamine lab, an affidavit said.

There were remnants of white granular and crystalline substances coating on the inside of a bowl and tubing, which are consistent with a methamphetamine-cooking operation, the affidavit stated.

According to the affidavit, Coffren told investigators that he and two others were at his trailer and they planned to make methamphetamine and use it. They were all “strung out” from making and using methamphetamine the night before, Agent Brian Ross wrote in the affidavit.

Coffren was in the living room with his girlfriend, who was not arrested in the case, and heard “fire, fire” coming from his bathroom/bedroom. He saw a small fire in that area, grabbed some baking soda and poured it on it, Ross wrote.

Meanwhile, Seth Hinkley, 26, of Strong and Joshua Bartlett, 25, of North New Portland went to the kitchen and began making a second “one-pot batch,” Ross wrote. Coffren heard a loud explosion from the kitchen and saw it was on fire.

He tried putting it out, but then grabbed his sleeping child in the next room and ran outside to a car and left, the affidavit said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link