Carl McCoy, the owner of the popular Brooklyn Eatery Gwynett St., claims that his arrest last week for sales of the synthetic drug Molly was all a big misunderstanding.

McCoy was caught when a package addressed to his restaurant and containing methylone was intercepted at the airport by federal agents.  When questioned, McCoy admitted that he had agreed to receive the package and then sell it to a drug dealer for $1,000.  The owner of the restaurant, which charges $120 per person for its tasting menu, was having money troubles.  In order to help the feds nab the dealer, McCoy agreed to wear a wire and stage a phony transaction.  McCoy met Omar Calixto Herrera to complete the drug deal and both men were arrested for possession.

McCoy has since been set free on $25,000 bail and, in a reversal of his earlier acknowledgment that he had entered into the drug business to make some extra money, is now proclaiming his innocence:  “At no time would I ever undertake the accused activities for personal or professional gain.”

Methylone is chemically similar to MDMA, and has received attention lately for being a “club drug” that has been linked to deaths in the New York rave scene.