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April 14, 2009

VENTURA COUNTY MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO SELLING ‘MAGIC MUSHROOMS’ CONSUMED BY TEEN LATER KILLED ON FREEWAY

LOS ANGELES – A Westlake Village man has pleaded guilty to federal charges of distributing narcotics for selling hallucinogenic mushrooms that were used by a group of young people, including a 17-year-old girl who took the “magic mushrooms” and was later fatally struck by a vehicle on the Ventura Freeway. Steven Thomas Roman, 30, of Westlake Village, pleaded guilty late yesterday to three felony charges, including distribution of a controlled substance to a person under 21 years of age resulting in death.

The charge of distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 years in federal prison. Roman faces a potential life sentence when he is sentenced on August 3 by United States District Judge Percy Anderson.

By pleading guilty, Roman admitted a series of facts related to an August 2004 drug transaction in Thousand Oaks that led to the death of the 17-year-old girl. One young person ordered about a quarter pound of mushrooms, which Roman agreed to sell for $100. After eating the mushrooms, the girl, who is identified in court documents as V.N., began having severe hallucinations. During the early morning hours of August 15, the girl was walking naked on the Ventura Freeway in Newbury Park when she was struck and killed by a motorist. Investigators determined that the motorist was not responsible for the girl’s death and that she had drugs in her system, including the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Roman has been in custody since being arrested by Ventura County authorities on September 10, 2008. When he pleaded guilty yesterday, Roman also pleaded guilty to two counts of distribution of a controlled substance, admitting that he sold ecstasy on two occasions in August 2008, sales that prompted his arrest by local authorities.

The case against Roman is the result of an investigation by the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

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For more information on federal criminal defense law, contact the Law Offices of Joseph Shemaria of Los Angeles, California.