Lacey Woman Used Kid To Help Deal Shrooms: Prosecutor

LACEY, NJ — A Lacey woman is accused of using her home where she lived with three minor children as a facility to grow and distribute psilocybin mushrooms, with one of the minors helping her, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Margaret Whalen, 60, was charged with maintaining or operating a controlled dangerous substance facility, manufacturing psilocybin mushrooms, possession of psilocybin mushrooms with intent to distribute, possession of psilocybin mushrooms, employing a juvenile in a drug distribution scheme and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said.

Investigation began this past March when Lacey police were alerted by the Division of Child Protection and Permanency that Whalen was using her Elwood Street home as a mushroom growing facility, Billhimer said.

Several jars of suspected psilocybin mushrooms were seized as part of a court-authorized search warrant on the home on March 13, Billhimer said. They tested positive as psilocybin mushrooms on May 23.

Whalen was growing and distributing the mushrooms while she was the legal guardian of three minor children who lived in the home with her, Billhimer said. The relationship between Whalen and the children was not immediately clear.

She also employed one of the minors in the scheme to manufacture and distribute the mushrooms, Billhimer said.

Whalen was charged on June 4 and taken into custody on June 5. She currently sits in Ocean County Jail pending a detention hearing.