Matthew Leshinsky indicted in charges of operating meth lab, Suffolk DA says

The owner of a Ronkonkoma lab accused of manufacturing methamphetamine was charged with second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and other drug-related crimes in a 15-count indictment unsealed late last month, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Monday.

Suffolk cops arrested Matthew Leshinsky, 23, of Farmingville, on June 7 after he called 911 to report a burglary at Quantitative Labs. Once at the Pond Road business, Fifth Precinct patrol and canine section officers discovered what appeared to be a clandestine laboratory involved in the manufacture of methamphetamine and dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a hallucinogen. 

Leshinsky was originally charged with first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and other drug-related crimes. In addition to second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to a statement by Tierney, the indictment includes two counts of third-degree unlawful manufacture of methamphetamine, unlawful disposal of meth lab material, reckless endangerment and other charges. 

Suffolk Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro ordered Leshinsky, to be held on bail of $500,000 cash, $1 million bond, or $3 million partially secured bond during an arraignment Friday in Riverhead. County Court Judge Eric Sachs originally ordered Leshinsky held on bail of $2.5 million cash or $5 million bond at an arraignment in Central Islip on June 8, prompting Leshinsky’s attorney, David Besso of Bay Shore, to call the amount “outrageous.”

Besso did not immediately return a call for comment on Monday. He accused Suffolk police of conducting an illegal search of the business with drug-sniffing dogs following the June 8 hearing. 

According to Tierney, police obtained a search warrant for the location and found over 100 items of laboratory equipment and chemical reagents and solvents used in the manufacture, production, or preparation of methamphetamine, as well as substances that resulted from the production or preparation of methamphetamine.

Police also allegedly recovered $40,000 in cash, a quantity of MDMA (ecstasy), more than  3 ounces of methamphetamine, more  than 625,000 milligrams of pure Ketamine, and more than 20 plastic 55-gallon drums containing Gamma-butyrolactone (GBL), which is chemically similar to Gamma hydroxybutyric acid (GHB), often referred to as the “date rape drug.”

Leshinsky is scheduled to return to court on Aug. 2.

“This defendant allegedly manufactured illicit synthetic drugs from a clandestine drug lab in Ronkonkoma, posing a grave risk to the safety and welfare of citizens of Suffolk County and the environment,” Tierney said.