United States of America v. Randal Vance, Rebecca Vance and Keir Ceballos-Rivera

San Diego, California, criminal defense lawyers represented the Defendants charged with conspiracy to employ or use minors to violate the Controlled Substances Act – Title 21, U.S.C., Sections 841, 846, and 861(a).

Reported by Kent Morlan

Randal Vance the ringleader of the conspiracy, pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to use a minor to produce and distribute a controlled substance, conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, two counts of distributing a controlled substance to minors, and conspiracy to obstruct justice. Two co-defendants - his wife Rebecca Vance and friend Keir Ceballos-Rivera - previously pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

Randal Vance admitted his boys were 9 and 11 when the conspiracy to produce psilocybin began at locations on Ash Street in Fallbrook and Lilac Road in Bonsall. Psilocybin mushrooms are a controlled substance that act as hallucinogenic drugs, inducing altered states of consciousness and vivid sensory experiences.

The defendant admitted in his plea agreement that he maintained two websites, psillyrabbit.com and psillyrabbitmushrooms.com, as well as the Instagram page psillyrabbitca, to market and sell psilocybin. He sold whole dried and freeze-dried psilocybin mushrooms over the internet as well as chocolates containing psilocybin and capsules containing pure psilocybin.

Randal Vance admitted providing psilocybin capsules for his oldest son, age 12 at that time, to sell to his friends. He also admitted providing the drug to his wife, Rebecca Vance, to distribute to others.

beginning around October 2023, Randal Vance began dosing the 9- and 11-year-old victims with psilocybin capsules every other day, increasing to every day by 2024.

on October 4, 2024, law enforcement executed search warrants on the Fallbrook and Bonsall locations. At the Ash Street location, law enforcement recovered approximately 204 pounds of fresh psilocybin mushrooms, 53 pounds of dried psilocybin mushrooms, 18 pounds of inoculated substrate to grow psilocybin mushrooms, and equipment used to grow, harvest, and process psilocybin mushrooms.

At the Lilac Road location, law enforcement recovered approximately 25 pounds of dried psilocybin mushrooms and five pounds of psilocybin capsules. Law enforcement officials also seized six firearms from the Lilac Road location: a Glock 34 pistol, a Walther P22 pistol, a Henry Survival AR7 rifle, a Smith and Wesson revolver, an H&R Model 900 revolver, and a Browning 30-06 rifle. None of the firearms were locked up, and loaded magazines were found next to the Glock 34 and Walther P22.

Vance elected to plead guilty and faces up to forty years in prison.