NYC Department of Environmental Protection Employee Pleads Guilty to Using Long Island Residence to Manufacture Ecstasy and Cultivate Marijuana

Joseph Guida, an employee of New York City Department of Environmental Protection, pleaded guilty today to using a stash house in Mastic, Long Island to produce ecstasy (MDMA) and grow marijuana.  The plea was entered before United States District Judge Joan M. Azrack at the federal courthouse in Central Islip.  When sentenced, Guida faces up to 20 years in prison.  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. 

Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Peter C. Fitzhugh, Special Agent-in-Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York Field Office (HSI), and Troy Miller, Director of Field Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, New York Field Office (CBP), announced the guilty plea.

“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 Donoghue.  “Today’s guilty plea is the result of swift action taken by this Office, working closely with our law enforcement partners, to safely shut down the defendant’s illegal drug operation.”  Mr. Donoghue expressed his grateful appreciation to the Drug Enforcement Administration, New York State Police Contaminated Crime Scene Emergency Response Team, Suffolk County Police Department and New York City Police Department for their assistance during the investigation.

“Guida created a clandestine lab in his home to manufacture synthetics drugs and grow illegal marijuana. He sought to make a profit from his criminal business while endangering those in his community,” stated HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Fitzhugh.  “It was the seamless collaboration with our partners at CBP, DEA and New York State Police before and during this investigation that allowed law enforcement to shut down Guida and his illicit enterprise.”

“This case serves as a great example of collaborative law enforcement efforts to combat international narcotics trafficking conspirators,” stated CBP Director Miller.  “U.S. Customs and Border Protection thanks our partners at HSI and DEA for their continued cooperation.”

According to court filings and facts presented at the guilty plea proceeding, between November 2013 and December 2018, Guida used a house in Mastic to manufacture MDMA and marijuana for resale.  In December 2018, CBP officers intercepted a package containing PMK methyl-glycidate (PMK), a MDMA precursor, that was mailed from China to Guida’s apartment in Queens.  HSI agents then interviewed Guida, and he admitted that he ordered the PMK from China and used the Mastic residence as an MDMA lab and marijuana grow-house. 

A subsequent search of the Mastic residence by law enforcement agents, some wearing protective hazmat suits, revealed chemicals and laboratory equipment for manufacturing MDMA, as well as approximately 36 marijuana plants and approximately 1.3 kilograms of processed marijuana. 

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Long Island Criminal Division.  Assistant United States Attorneys Bradley T. King and Madeline M. O’Connor are in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

JOSEPH GUIDA
Age:  45
Queens, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 19-CR-12 (DRH)