The mother of a man who has been accused of running a meth lab twice said her son was actually making wine.
Jan Kowalski said last week that her son, Daniel Kowalski, wasn’t making drugs when police arrested him at his suburban Chicago home in Feb. 2014, according to The Chicago Tribune. He was pictured in his mug shot wearing a shirt inspired by the TV show "Breaking Bad."
Kowalski pleaded guilty Friday to two drug possession charges, one a felony, according to the Tribune. A judge sentenced him to two years of probation and 30 hours of community service.
Police acting on a tip performed a check at Daniel Kowalski’s home in Feb. 2014 at about 6:45 p.m. Monday in the 1000 block of 61st Street in unincorporated La Grange Highlands, according to a statement from the Cook County Sheriff’s office.
Officers found glass beakers, burners, chemicals, and instructional materials for making controlled substances, though the lab was not active, the statement said. Twelve jars of psychedelic mushrooms were also recovered.
Kowalski's mug shot shows him wearing a "Los Pollos" T-shirt from the show "Breaking Bad." He was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of methamphetamine manufacturing materials, and possession of methamphetamine precursors, all felonies; and a misdemeanor count of possession of drug paraphernalia, the statement said.
"He had winemaking equipment," Jan Kowalski said, according to the Tribune.
She went on to say he was a "special education" student when he was younger and said he had used the equipment to make two batches of wine, according to the report.
She also said she didn’t know how cops could confuse the carboys and pipettes used in winemaking for the beakers and other materials used in a meth lab, according to the Tribune.
The 2014 arrest marked the second time in less than a year a meth lab was found in his home, police said. Kowalski was also arrested in July 2013 after police found a suspected meth lab in his home, the statement said.
