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Margaret Whalen, 60, of Lacey Township, was arrested on Wednesday, June 5. Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer announced her charges in a news release.
Lacey police were told by the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency in March that Whalen was using her Elwood Street home to make and sell psilocybin mushrooms. Officers executed a search warrant on the home on Wednesday, Mar. 13.
Detectives seized several jars with suspected psychedelic mushrooms and they were sent to the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office laboratory for testing. The samples tested positive for psilocybin mushrooms on Thursday, May 23.
Investigators said Whalen made and sold mushrooms at her home while she was the legal guardian of three children who lived with her. She was also suspected of using one child in her drug-dealing scheme.
Whalen was charged on Tuesday, June 4 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.
Whalen was held in the Ocean County Jail to await a detention hearing.
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