Pawtucket Man Sentenced to 96 Months for Running Meth Lab in Newport Hotel

A 51-year-old Pawtucket man who ran a meth lab out of a Newport hotel room has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to one count of manufacturing methamphetamine and four counts of distribution of methanphetamine.

Sean Costigan will also serve three years of supervised release once he’s released from prison, the U.S. Attorney announced Thursday.

Costigan was arrested in January after agents with the DEA Drug Task Force and Warwick and Newport police raided the hotel room at the Pineapple Inn.

Inside the room, officers found materials used to manufacture meth and seized “multiple items associated with a methamphetamine manufacturing operation,” said Peter F. Neronha, United States attorney for district Rhode Island.

“Among the panoply of dangerous, indeed, life-threatening illegal drugs, meth may top the list. Meth labs are notorious for exploding without warning, and it has devastating health effects on those who use it,” Neronha said.. “The defendant here manufactured and sold meth with impunity, without any concern whatsoever for the buyers of his product or those residing literally footsteps away. His lengthy sentence is more than well-deserved. I want to thank all of our law enforcement partners, who worked so diligently to eliminate the threat posed by this defendant.”

The investigation into Costigan’s alleged drug trafficking began in May of 2013.

Police used undercover agents to buy meth from Costigan on at least four occasions leading up to the raid.

The room was eventually cleaned up by federal officials and the Newport Fire Department.

The investigation, arrest and conviction is an example of the success of multi-agency investigation and task force operations, police said.

“The initial investigator on this case was Detective David Verity of the Warwick Police Department, our assigned member to the Drug Task Force sponsored by the DEA. The information was initially obtained by the Warwick Police Special Operations Group,” said Warwick Deputy Police Chief Michael Babula. “This investigation was continued and brought to completion with the assistance of the task force as a whole. We strongly believe that these multi-agency task forces are the only practical way to deal with multi-jurisdictional drug trafficking. We are particularly pleased that this effort was able to take down a lab manufacturing meth, a drug which has destroyed so many lives, and in many cases, whole communities.”