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PROVO — A BYU student admitted Wednesday that he had the makings of a meth lab inside his apartment near BYU.
Bryce Cazier, 22, pleaded guilty to intent to operate a clandestine laboratory, a second-degree felony. He could face up to 15 years in prison.
Prosecutors said they will likely recommend jail time instead of prison because Cazier does not have a significant criminal history and will be completing a six- to eight-week substance abuse treatment program in St. George before his sentencing on March 25.
Cazier was originally charged with a first-degree felony, but prosecutors agreed to amend the charge to a second-degree felony because Cazier only had "precursor materials," defense attorney Jere Reneer said.
Reneer maintained that his client had been making soap, but also made meth as a "chemistry experiment."
"He was making soap. And he was also making the extracts from the different oils he was doing," Reneer said after the hearing. "But he also had some naughty stuff in there. It was a chemistry experiment. It's more personality-related. He was not a meth user. He didn't, in fact, make meth. He just had the stuff there, and you can't do that, you know, and he knew that before he did it and he knows that more so now."
On Nov. 6, Cazier and two roommates were at their apartment, 1505 N. Canyon Road, and detected smoke coming from behind Cazier's room. Cazier had his own room, which his roommates said he always kept locked.
Cazier told his roommates the fire was caused by some rubbing alcohol he spilled without realizing it. But when he left the apartment the next day to go to Salt Lake City, his roommates picked the lock to his room and found suspicious glassware and chemicals.
He was making soap. And he was also making the extracts from the different oils he was doing. But he also had some naughty stuff in there. It was a chemistry experiment. It's more personality-related. He was not a meth user.
–Jere Reneer
Two days later, a full investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Agency. Investigators were not able to find or directly talk to Cazier until he turned himself in on Nov. 12.
On Wednesday, prosecutors said evidence did not indicate that Cazier was distributing meth to others, which is why they offered the plea deal.
"It really just looked like he was messing around and trying it out for his own personal consumption," said deputy Utah County attorney Jared Perkins. "I don't know if he was watching 'Breaking Bad' or I don't know where … he came up with the idea."
Cazier "was willing to admit that it wasn't just a soap manufactory but that it was a clandestine laboratory," Perkins said.
Because the dangerous chemicals in the lab were a risk to Cazier's roommates, Perkins will suggest that he spend time behind bars.
"If something had gone wrong, it could have gone really wrong," he said.
Cazier also appeared in the Springville Justice Court Wednesday, where he pleaded guilty to retail theft, a class B misdemeanor, in a shoplifting case. He will be sentenced for that incident on March 18.
He is expected to appear Thursday in Orem Justice Court, where he is charged with two counts of theft, a class B misdemeanor, in a shoplifting incident at a state liquor store.
According to Reneer, his client is trying to resolve all three cases before leaving for treatment.
"He's just coming completely clean," he said.
Contributing: Sam Penrod
