60-Year-Old Lacey Township Woman Charged With Narcotics Manufacturing & Employing Teen In Narcotics Scheme
Friday, June 7, 2024, 8:45 A.M. ET. By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
LACEY TOWNSHIP, NJ.- On Wednesday, June 5, 2024, a 60-year-old Lacey Township, New Jersey woman was taken into custody following being charged on Tuesday, for operating a controlled dangerous substance facility and employing a juvenile in a narcotics distribution scheme.
According to Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimmer, Margaret Whalen, 60, of Lacey Township, New Jersey has been formally charged with Maintaining or Operating a Controlled Dangerous Substance Facility; Manufacturing Psilocybin Mushrooms; Possession of Psilocybin Mushrooms; Possession of Psilocybin Mushrooms with Intent to Distribute; Employing a Juvenile in a Drug Distribution Scheme; and two counts of Endangering the Welfare of a Child.
The stem from an investigation that began in March 2024, when members of the Lacey Township Police Department were notified by the Division of Child Protection and Permanency that they had received information that Ms. Whalen was using her Elwood Street home to manufacture and distribute Psilocybin Mushrooms.
On March 13, 2024, Detectives from the Lacey Township Police Department and the Ocean County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit executed a court-authorized search warrant on Whalen's home. As a result of the search, Detectives found and seized several jars containing suspected psilocybin Mushrooms. Following the seizure, jars containing the mushrooms were sent to the Ocean County Sheriff's Office Crime Scene Investigation laboratory for testing.
On May 23, 2024, Detectives received the laboratory results that the samples tested positive as psilocybin mushrooms.
An ensuing investigation by Detectives of Ocean County Special Victims Unit and the Lacey Township Police Department determined that Whalen manufactured and distributed psilocybin mushrooms from her home while three minor children resided with her. Further investigation uncovered that Whalen employed one of the minor children in her scheme to manufacture and distribute the mushrooms.
On Tuesday, Whalen was formally charged with the above-listed charges and was taken into custody on Wednesday. Following being processed on the charges, Whalen was remanded to the Ocean County Jail, where she remains pending a detention hearing in Ocean Couty Superior Court in Toms River, New Jersey.
"The rules of the court requires us to include a statement, that states: The charges outlined in this publication are merely accusations and the defendant and or defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt."
FILED UNDER: JUNE 7, 2024: LAW, LOCAL, OCEAN: