The Riverside Press-Enterprise

Teen charged with selling pot to youths at schools

At least one she supplied was under 14, prosecutor­s allege

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A young woman accused with her boyfriend of dealing marijuana to students at schools throughout the Temecula Valley was charged Wednesday with multiple felony counts, including furnishing cannabis to a child under 14.

The two, who are 18 and from Murrieta, were arrested Friday after a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigat­ion.

The girl was also charged with two counts each of distributi­on of controlled substances and possession of controlled substances for sale.

She pleaded not guilty during an arraignmen­t before Superior Court Judge Elaine Kiefer, who, at the request of the defendant’s attorney, scheduled a bail review hearing for Wednesday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. The girl is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Smith Correction­al Facility in Banning.

The boy was booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on March 3, but he was able to post a $1 million bond Saturday, after which he was released from custody.

He’s charged identicall­y to his co-defendant and is scheduled to be arraigned April 17.

According to sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Perez, last month, deputies at the Southwest Station in French Valley initiated an investigat­ion stemming from informatio­n that cannabis “was being sold to juveniles who attend middle and high schools throughout the city of Temecula and unincorpor­ated French Valley.”

Investigat­ors determined that the two teens were allegedly selling “vape pens containing concentrat­ed cannabis to minors,” Perez said.

“Furthermor­e, it was determined the pair distribute­d concentrat­ed cannabis and psilocybin — commonly referred to as mushrooms — using a mobile delivery service, identified through social media as ‘Atomicclou­ds,’ ” the sergeant said.

Deputies obtained and served search warrants at the defendants’ residence in the area of Madison Avenue and Murrieta Hot Springs Road, where “evidence related to the sales of marijuana and psilocybin was located and recovered,” Perez said.

The pair were taken into custody without incident. Neither has prior documented felony or misdemeano­r conviction­s in Riverside County.

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