Man Sentenced to Eight Years for Cooking Meth, Selling In Warwick

Warwick, RI – A Pawtucket man who pled guilty in July to cooking meth in Newport then selling it in Warwick was sentenced to eight years in federal prison Wednesday.

Sean Costigan, 51, of Pawtucket, pled guilty to manufacturing and distribution charges July 23, according to a release from US Attorney Peter F. Neronha.

During his plea, Costigan admitted that four times between Oct. 25 and Dec. 6, 2013, he sold methamphetamine to a Warwick undercover police officer. Three of the sales were in a hotel parking lot in Warwick. The fourth occurred in a hotel room in North Smithfield.

Costigan’s drug activity first came to the attention of police through information obtained by the Warwick Police Special Operations Group, said Warwick Deputy Police Chief Michael Babula. Warwick Police Detective David Verity, the Warwick Police Department’s member of the DEA-sponsored Drug Task Force, was the initial investigator on the case, he said.

“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,” Babula said.

On Jan. 16, 2014, DEA and DEA Drug Task Force agents, and Warwick and Newport Police detectives executed a court-authorized search of a Newport motel room rented by Costigan.

Inside the room, officers discovered materials being used to manufacture and distribute methamphetamine. Members of the DEA CLET dismantled the operation and seized multiple items associated with a methamphetamine manufacturing operation.

Costigan has remained in jail since his arrest.

At sentencing Wednesday, U.S. District Court Judge John J. McConnell, Jr., also ordered Costigan to serve 3 years supervised release upon completion of his prison term.

The DEA Drug Task Force is comprised of law enforcement agents and officers from the DEA, Rhode Island State Police, and the Cranston, East Providence, Newport, Providence, South Kingstown, Warwick, West Warwick and Woonsocket Police Departments.