Pot-laced cookies at baby shower land baker in court

After some attendees at a Montgomery County baby shower ate the beautifully decorated cookie treats, they suddenly noticed something was out of sorts.

One party-goer felt “the room spinning” and some others felt ill enough to head to hospital emergency rooms.

“Unbeknownst to the victims in the case the cookies had been laced with THC,” said county Assistant District Attorney Evan Correia. “The victims were obviously scared, they were upset. When they were hit with the effects of these cookies they did not know what was going on. Several victims went to the hospital.”

The cookie treats that contained an extra ingredient of the “herb” variety were accidentally delivered to the baby shower by Philadelphia cookie maker Jamie Troxel, who now faces court supervision for her reckless mix-up.

Troxel, 33, the owner of Troxy’s Treats in South Philadelphia, was sentenced in county court on Friday to one year of probation after she pleaded no-contest to a misdemeanor charge of recklessly endangering others in connection with the October 2016 incident during which she mistakenly delivered cookies laced with THC, an active ingredient of marijuana, to the host of a baby shower that was held at the North Hills Country Club in Springfield Township.

Troxel’s no-contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is an admission that prosecutors had sufficient evidence to convict if the case went to trial.

“It’s our belief that the defendant did not do this intentionally but that she acted recklessly in making herself THC-laced cookies at the same time as making the cookies for the baby shower and that she mixed up the dough and delivered the wrong cookies to the baby shower,” Correia alleged.

In addition to imposing the probationary period, Judge Todd D. Eisenberg, who accepted the no-contest plea, ordered Troxel, of the 1200 block of Mercy Street, to complete 36 hours of community service and to pay restitution of $2,947 to cover the medical expenses of three of the victims in the case.

“You’re with me for a year. I don’t want to see you again,” Eisenberg addressed Troxel, who was represented by defense lawyer Thomas Kenny.

“You won’t, your honor. I promise,” Troxel, sporting hair dyed a dusty rose color, responded.

With the charge, Correia alleged Troxel’s reckless conduct put others in danger.

“The scary part about it was that many of these cookies were given out at the end of the party as a gift of sorts and people were eating these cookies and then driving their cars, not knowing they were soon going to be feeling the effects of the THC from the cookies. Something could have gone very wrong. Thankfully, no one was involved in any accidents,” Correia said.

Additionally, some victims were employed in medical fields or jobs that require routine blood tests and if the THC was detected and they had no explanation for it, they could have lost their jobs, Correia added.

The investigation began in December 2016 when Springfield Township police were notified about the Oct. 30, 2016, incident.

One victim told police that after attending the baby shower she began to feel “the room spinning” and could not move her arms, according to the criminal complaint filed by Springfield Township Detective Stephen Craig. The woman went to a local hospital where her blood was drawn.

“The results found a high level of THC in her blood,” Craig alleged, adding the woman reported the results to the man who hosted the party for his pregnant wife. “(The host) had gotten other calls about guests feeling ill to the point where they went to the emergency room.”

“They were shocked. They were surprised and had no explanation for how THC would have gotten into their systems,” Correia added.

Detectives alleged about 11 of the 60 party guests reported being sick after attending the party.

“Those who got sick all had one thing in common, they ate some of the cookies that (the host) had brought to the party,” said Craig.

The investigation determined the host had ordered 65 hand-painted sugar cookies from Troxy’s Treats in South Philadelphia. The host subsequently called Troxel to alert her about the sicknesses. Troxel denied putting THC or marijuana in them but apologized, detectives alleged.

Detectives then contacted Troxel, who runs the cookie business out of her Mercy Street residence.

“Troxel stated that she made a batch of THC-laced cookies for personal use to self-medicate her anxiety issues. She stated she had leftover dough in her refrigerator,” Craig alleged in the arrest affidavit.

Troxel allegedly told detectives the host of the baby shower ordered 65 cookies in September, “none of which he ordered with THC or marijuana in them.”

“She stated she mistakenly included the THClaced dough into the dough for (the party host’s) order. She did not purposely include the drugs in the order,” Craig alleged.

“She went on to describe the process of making THClaced cookies by making marijuana butter. She acknowledged that she has made them in the past but never for sale,” Craig added.

“She stated she mistakenly included the THC-laced dough into the dough for (the party host’s) order. She did not purposely include the drugs in the order.” — Springfield Township Detective Stephen Craig