‘Breaking Bad’ Superfan Ryan Carroll Busted On Drug Charges

Breaking Bad was one of the most addictive shows on television, and apparently it attracted addictive personalities among its avid fandom. Ryan Lee Carroll was such a devoted fan that he entered and won the grand prize in a contest to watch the series finale with the show’s co-star Aaron “Jesse Pinkman” Paul at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery on September 29, 2013.

Three months later, things are breaking pretty bad for the Breaking Bad superfan. The 28-year-old Fort Myers, Florida man was arrested early New Year’s Day on a variety of drug-related charges, including possession of a synthetic narcotic with intent to sell, The Naples Daily News reports.

The Lee County Sherrif’s arrest report, posted online, does not specify the exact type of drug that Carroll is charged with possessing. But methamphetamine, the drug made by the characters played by Paul and Bryan Cranston on Breaking Bad, would be considered a “synthetic” drug.

Carroll, a graduate of Florida Gulf Coast University, was booked into Lee County Jail at about 1:30 am on New Year’s Day after being busted along with another man, James Lee Allen, believed to be a friend of Carroll’s.

Police began investigating inside a house at 17363 Meadow Lane Circle in Fort Myers on Tuesday and remained there until late in the evening. A neighbor said that investigators appeared to be wearing heavy, protective gloves as if they expected to come in contact with hazardous substances inside the house.

The neighbor, Greg Gremaud, told the Naples paper the investigators’ conduct led him to suspect that some sort of drug manufacturing operation had been set up inside the house.

Was Carroll emulating his Breaking Bad heroes, manufacturing meth inside his home? That question remains unanswered as of late on New Year’s Day.

As fans were counting down to the series finale of the popular AMC Network drama Breaking Bad, co-star Aaron Paul announced that he would hold a contest to benefit a charity, The Kind Campaign, founded and operated by his wife, Lauren Parsekian. The charity’s purpose is to combat bullying, particularly against girls, committed by other girls.

Thanks in large part to the 34-year-old Breaking Bad star’s fundraising appeal, the contest raised $1.8 million for the charity.

Carroll won the grand prize. Before flying to Los Angeles to take part in the party, he told a local newspaper that he found Breaking Bad, “highly addicting, just like the meth they make.”