FARMINGVILLE, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) — A Long Island man pleaded guilty on Thursday to operating a drug lab that was manufacturing methamphetamine and other illicit substances and presenting it as a legitimate business, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said.
Matthew Leshinsky, 23, pleaded guilty to third-degree unlawful manufacturing of methamphetamine and related charges, prosecutors said. The scene of the crime is Leshinsky’s business in Ronkonkoma, Quantitative Laboratories, LLC.
The defendant was found out after reporting a burglary at his alleged business on June 7, 2023 at around 3:30 a.m., officials said.
When officers from the Suffolk County Police Department responded, they found broken glass at the lab’s entrance. They continued investigating and discovered a “clandestine laboratory” involved in producing methamphetamine and hallucinogenic dimethyltryptamine (DMT), among other illegal drugs.
Officers obtained a search warrant and upon execution found over 100 items of lab equipment, chemical reagents and solvents used to manufacture, produce or prepare the drugs.
Cops also found $40,000 in cash, “a quantity” of MDMA, over three ounces of methamphetamine, over 625,000 milligrams of ketamine and over 20 plastic 55 gallon drums full of Gamma-butyrolactone, chemically similar to date rape drugs.
“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 Ray Tierney said.
Leshinsky pleaded guilty on Feb. 15 to a 13-count indictment related to his illicit business. He is expected 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,” Tiereny said.