New York man running “Breaking Bad-style drug lab” pleads guilty

A New York man inadvertently called the cops on himself when he reported a burglary at the location where he was running a secret meth lab that authorities compared to the iconic show “Breaking Bad.”

Matthew Leshinsky, 23, of Farmingville on New York’s Long Island, pleaded guilty to unlawful manufacture of methamphetamine and other related charges, the Suffolk County district attorney’s office said in a Friday news release.

Matthew Leshinsky / Credit: Suffolk County district attorney’s office

Authorities say on June 7, 2023, at about 3:30 a.m., Leshinsky called 911 to report a burglary at his purported business establishment, Quantitative Laboratories LLC. When Suffolk County police officers arrived at the scene, they found broken glass at the building’s entrance. The officers also discovered what appeared to be a clandestine lab that was used to make methamphetamine and a hallucinogenic called dimethyltryptamine, or DMT.

“This defendant was operating a Breaking Bad-style drug lab and tried to conceal it under the guise of a legitimate business. He then inadvertently turned himself in when he reported that a burglary occurred at that same business,” Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement.

Officers ultimately found more than 100 items of lab equipment as well as chemical reagents and solvents to produce and manufacture meth, officials said. Police also recovered $40,000 in cash, an undisclosed amount of ecstasy, over 3 ounces of methamphetamine and over 625,000 milligrams of pure ketamine, officials said.

The DA said officers also found about two dozen 55-gallon drums containing a drug similar to gamma hydroxybutyric acid, or GHB, which is also known as the “date rape drug.”

On Thursday, Leshinsky pleaded guilty to nine charges, including multiple counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance. He is due back in court for sentencing on March 20.

“I want to thank the Suffolk County Police Department officers who keenly identified evidence of a clandestine drug lab during their initial response to the scene, as well as our prosecutors and other members of law enforcement for their collaborative efforts to further investigate this defendant and hold him accountable for the deadly drugs he put out onto the streets of Suffolk County,” Tierney said.

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