The United States Attorney's Office

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.

Release No. 9-046
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