BOSTON — A former top researcher at MIT who says he was inspired by the hit television show “Breaking Bad” when he purchased ingredients for the powerful poison ricin has been sentenced to six months of home confinement.

Ishtiaq Ali Saaem, 38, was also given three years of probation by a Boston federal court judge on Thursday, The Boston Globe reports.

Saaem said he never made poison and maintained was “guided by innocent curiosity” to learn more about ricin when he purchased castor beans, the source of the poison.

Saaem, who holds a doctorate in biomedical engineering and also had been head of advanced research at a Boston-area biotechnology company, had ordered 100 packets of the beans online in 2015.

It’s not illegal to purchase castor beans but Saaem, who now lives in Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice last year for lying to federal authorities about his reason for purchasing them.

He told investigators he purchased castor beans because he was interested in planting them in his apartment as decoration and had only intended to purchase one packet, not 100.