LaGrange-Area Meth Suspect Busted in 'Breaking Bad' T-Shirt Cops Plea

Daniel Kowalski, 22, from a February 2014 police booking photo. | Cook County Sheriff’s Office

A man busted for running a meth lab while wearing a “Breaking Bad” t-shirt pleaded guilty to possession of a controlled substance before Cook County Judge Colleen Hyland.

Cook County sheriff’s officers arrested Daniel Kowalski, 22, in February 2014, after they found glass beakers, burners, chemicals and 12 jars of psychedelic mushrooms in the coach house where he was living in unincorporated Cook County near LaGrange.

Kowalski, who was wearing a “Los Pollos Hermanos” t-shirt -- the restaurant front for the meth dealer in the TV show “Breaking Bad” -- was already on electronic home monitoring for a similar offense in 2013, news reports said.

The young LaGrange man was charged with two counts of possession of a controlled substance and possession of materials and equipment need to produce methamphetamine.

A clean-shaven Kowalski showed up Friday in Judge Hyland’s Bridgeview courtroom dressed in a long-sleeved white shirt and gray khaki pants. Kowalskipleaded guilty to felony possession of a controlled substance and a misdemeanor pot possession charge as part of a plea deal.

Kowalski was sentenced to 355 days time served in Cook County Jail and two years probation, including 30 hours of community service and random urine drops.

Judge Hyland said the felony charge could be expunged upon successful completion of his sentence.

After the sentencing, the young man’s mother, Jan Kowalski, said the alleged meth-making equipment found the sheriff’s police was actually equipment used to make wine.