‘Breaking Bad’ grandma accused of running opioid ring pleads guilty to drug charge

A California granny accused of peddling opioids out of her San Jose home “Breaking Bad”-style pleaded guilty to a single drug charge Tuesday.

Joanne Segovia — who was affectionately known as “grandma” at the police union she worked for — copped to one count of unlawful importation of Tapentadol, a narcotic painkiller that she brought into the US from abroad, according to a report by The Mercury News.

Segovia, 65, faces up to 20 years behind bars at her sentencing but could get a far lighter penalty under the federal sentencing guidelines.

Segovia, the ex-executive director of the San Jose Police Officers Association who is also a mother and grandmother, was initially charged with attempting to unlawfully import a synthetic opioid called Valeryl fentanyl.

But in August, after nearly a year of postponed hearings during which time Segovia may have been cooperating with the feds, prosecutors informed a judge they mistakenly identified one of the drugs she was allegedly peddling as fentanyl when, in fact, it was Tapentadol, Segovia’s lawyer Adam Gasner confirmed to The Post by email Monday.

Tapentadol is usually used by diabetes patients to treat severe pain due to nerve damage.

“The United States Attorney’s Office corrected the record regarding the narcotics that were involved in this case,” Gasner said. “The defense investigation has always shown that the narcotic in this case was not fentanyl.”

In August, prosecutors also filed a new criminal information against Segovia charging her with the count she pleaded guilty to.

Segovia — who was fired from the union after her arrest — has been out on bail after pleading not guilty at her initial March 2023.

The feds claimed in the original charging documents that Segovia paid for shipments of drugs including sedative Zolpidem and painkillers tramadol and Tapentadol, receiving at least 61 packages to her San Jose home, from countries including China, Canada and India.

The deliveries were hidden inside packages marked as food supplements, wedding party favors, makeup, chocolate and other items, the feds claimed.

Her alleged scheme began in October 2015 and continued through January 2023, prosecutors said at the time.

At the time of her arrest, Segovia’s neighbors likened her to “Breaking Bad” character Walter White who was a chemistry teacher-turned-drug-dealer. One of her friends said she led a normal and unassuming life.

Segovia’s has claimed the ringleader of the operation was actually her housekeeper who was a family friend that had addiction problems.