A former New Mexico science teacher has pleaded guilty to making methamphetamines in a case similar to the plot of hit television show Breaking Bad.
According to Doña Ana County District Attorney’s Office, John Gose pleaded guilty last week to four meth-related charges stemming from an October 2016 arrest.
Gose, 56, was a science teacher for eight-and-a-half years at a high school in El Paso. Citing police reports, the attorney’s office said Gose told a roommate he used to teach chemistry.
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Prior to his arrest, Gose resigned from the El Paso Independent School District in 2008 and took on a role as a vocational teacher at a high school in Las Cruces. He then transferred back to El Paso after one semester, where he taught Grade 8 science from August 2013 through February 2016.
According to authorities, Gose was arrested in October after officers found a white, Styrofoam ice chest containing glassware, rubber tubing and chemicals which a lab later confirmed can be used to make meth. The district attorney’s office said New Mexico State Police officers conducted a search of the former teacher’s property where more chemicals and supplies were found, suggesting Gose was making meth.
According to investigators, Gose was in possession of enough ingredients to make at least one pound of meth, with an estimated street value of almost $45,000.
Speaking with local KFOX14 news, parents at Gose’s former school said they were surprised by the charges.
“I’m still trying to wrap my head around it. I mean, you don’t expect a teacher to have that kind of stuff in his car,” Misty Ward told the news station. “You don’t expect it, you know? He’s supposed to be a model for kids and does a 180, right? It’s just crazy.”
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Gose was charged with two counts of trafficking by manufacturing, one count of possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.
“That the defendant in this case chose to plead guilty to all of the charges is a testament to the strength of the investigation,” District Attorney Mark D’Antonio said in a statement. “Thanks to the hard work of the Las Cruces Police Department, the New Mexico State Police and the prosecutors in this office, we are able to close the books on this case of life imitating art while saving the taxpayers of New Mexico the cost of a jury trial.”
Some may find Gose’s case familiar, as it resembles the plot for hit AMC series Breaking Bad, a show that follows fictional Albuquerque chemistry teacher Walter White who makes and sells meth with a former student, Jessie Pinkman.
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