NYC DEP employee pleads guilty to running drug lab out of home on Long Island
MASTIC, Long Island (WABC) -- A New York City Department of Environmental Protection employee pleaded guilty Wednesday to operating a drug lab out of his Long Island home.
Joseph Guida admitted in federal court that he produced ecstasy and grew marijuana at his home in Mastic.
He was arrested last December after federal agents intercepted a package containing a chemical used to make ecstasy.
The package was mailed from China to Guida's apartment in Queens.
As part of his guilty plea, Guida agreed to forfeit his interest in the Mastic residence and a Dodge Durango that he used in connection with his drug operation.
"Guida turned a house in a residential neighborhood into a drug factory, with total disregard for the danger posed to his neighbors by the volatile chemicals used to manufacture ecstasy," stated United States Attorney Richard Donoghue.
Prosecutors say he told them the ecstasy was for personal use, but that he admitted on recorded tape that he had sold pot to people in the past.
Guida faces up to 20 years in prison.
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