'Breaking Bad'-style: Matthew Leshinsky, of Farmingville, pleads guilty to operating meth lab
A Farmingville man, whose case prosecutors compared to the fictional television series “Breaking Bad,” pleaded guilty Thursday to running a meth lab in Ronkonkoma — an operation that authorities discovered after he called police to report a burglary at his cannabis business.
Matthew Leshinsky, 23, pleaded guilty to nine felony counts, including unlawful manufacturing methamphetamine and multiple counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
David Besso, Leshinsky’s attorney, described his client as a “brilliant” scientist who was researching drug addiction “for the public good.”
He had applied for proper licensing from the DEC, Besso added, but was working without proper certification at the time of his arrest. “Unfortunately, he went about it the wrong way,” said Besso, who denied Leshinsky sold meth out of the lab.
Prosecutors said Leshinsky called 911 at 3:30 a.m. June 7 to report a burglary at his business, Quantitative Laboratories, which he listed as analyzing cannabis in New York.
When police arrived, they said they found broken glass, chemicals and evidence of a clandestine drug lab.
“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,” Sufolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement.
Police found evidence “involved in the manufacture, production, and preparation of methamphetamine and dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a hallucinogenic substance, amongst other controlled substances,” prosecutors said.
Police later served a search warrant that found more than 100 pieces of laboratory equipment, chemicals and other substances resulting from the production of methamphetamine. Police also seized $40,000 in cash, MDMA known as ecstasy or molly and more than 3 ounces of methamphetamine, prosecutors said.
Police also seized 625,000 milligrams of pure ketamine and more than 20 plastic 55-gallon drums containing Gamma butyrolactone, similar to the drug GHB, referred to as the “date rape drug.”
Leshinsky pleaded guilty to six felony counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, two counts of unlawful manufacture of methamphetamine and one felony count of unlawful disposal of methamphetamine laboratory material.
He also pleaded guilty to four misdemeanors including criminal possession of methamphetamine manufacturing material, two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and one count of reckless endangerment.
Leshinsky had studied chemistry at Hofstra University and had done research for multiple corporations, Besso said. His client realized he had committed crimes and agreed to plead guilty, appearing a “little depressed” in court on Thursday.
Leshinsky comes from a “great family” and has many siblings, Besso added, describing him as “a real nice kid, forthright, focused on what he was doing …[He] built a tremendous lab from nothing.”
Leshinsky is scheduled to be sentenced March 20.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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