Accused mushroom dealer indicted

A Waynesboro grand jury Monday indicted a Waynesboro man on drug charges stemming from a raid in which police say they found 107 Mason jars of psychedelic mushrooms.

Felix Christopher Gutierrez, 31, faces a single felony charge of possession of a Schedule I controlled substance with intent to distribute. He is free on bond awaiting a plea hearing Nov. 18 in Waynesboro Circuit Court.

Waynesboro police called the bust at Gutierrez’s apartment in the 1700 block of New Hope Road the largest seizure of psychedelic mushrooms in city history.

Psychedelic mushrooms are a known hallucinogenic that can produce intense distortions of reality, causing users to see images, hear sounds and feel sensations that seem real but are not, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The drug rarely makes its way onto police radar, despite online communities that openly offer tips on growing mushrooms and first-hand accounts of drug use. Mushrooms are illegal in all states, but the spores used to grow them are legal in 47 states.

The grand jury also indicted:

n Kenneth Marsella Reynolds, 42, on charges of robbery, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and marijuana possession.

The Waynesboro man was arrested in July after an armed robbery at the Shell gas station at 301 E. Broad St. Waynesboro police said that at 3:30 a.m. Reynolds walked inside the station, also known as the Stop In, and said he had a gun, then demanded money. He left with an undisclosed amount of cash.

Reynolds remains in custody at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona.

n Matias Murrillo Lincoln, 44, on charges of transporting cocaine into Virginia and possession with intent to manufacture cocaine.

The Fort Worth, Texas, man was caught with a woman May 21 at Comfort Inn near Interstate 64 in Waynesboro with a suitcase containing more than eight ounces of powder cocaine, authorities said.

Transportation of more than 1 ounce of cocaine into Virginia carries a mandatory three-year minimum sentence.

The JADE Task Force, which includes officers from Charlottesville and Albemarle County, set up a sting to catch Lincoln and Yvonne Gutierrez, 27, after receiving a tip from an informant.

Both remain in custody. Gutierrez awaits sentencing and Lincoln is scheduled for a Sept. 23 plea hearing.