(KTLA) – A 43-year-old California man pleaded guilty last week to trafficking psilocybin mushrooms and using his two young sons in the operation after repeatedly dosing them with the hallucinogenic drug, federal prosecutors announced.

During the investigation, law enforcement executed two search warrants at properties in North County, California, tied to Randal Vance of San Diego County on Oct. 4, 2024, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

At a Fallbrook location, investigators recovered approximately 204 pounds of fresh psilocybin mushrooms, 53 pounds of dried mushrooms, 18 pounds of inoculated mushroom-growing substrate and equipment used to cultivate, harvest and process the drug, prosecutors said.

Authorities said an additional 25 pounds of dried psilocybin mushrooms and about five pounds of psilocybin capsules were seized at another property in Bonsall.

A psilocybin mushroom being prepped for distribution. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer)

Investigators also recovered six firearms, including two handguns, three rifles and two revolvers. Prosecutors said none of the firearms were secured, and loaded magazines were found next to two of the pistols.

Vance operated the websites psillyrabbit.com and psillyrabbitmushrooms.com, along with the Instagram account “psillyrabbitca,” to market and sell dried and freeze-dried psilocybin mushrooms, mushroom-infused chocolates and capsules containing pure psilocybin, according to court documents.

Federal prosecutors identified Vance as the ringleader of the operation.

In his plea agreement, Vance admitted that his sons were 9 and 11 years old when the conspiracy began at the two North County properties. Prosecutors said the children helped cultivate, produce and distribute the psilocybin mushrooms, a federally controlled hallucinogenic drug.

He also admitted that he began giving the boys psilocybin capsules around October 2023, initially every other day before increasing the doses to daily by 2024, according to court records.

Psilocybin mushrooms are seen in a grow room. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Prosecutors said Vance also admitted supplying psilocybin capsules to his oldest son, who was 12 at the time, to sell to friends. He further acknowledged providing the drug to his wife for distribution to others.

His wife, Rebecca Vance, and a co-defendant, Keir Ceballos-Rivera, previously pleaded guilty in the case and are awaiting sentencing.

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Vance was arrested the same day search warrants were served. According to prosecutors, he had been out on bond in a related state case before his federal arrest.

After his arrest, Vance and his co-defendants conspired to destroy evidence by deleting phone messages and taking down the websites used to sell psilocybin products, according to court documents.

In total, he pleaded guilty to 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.

Vance is scheduled to be sentenced in September and could face up to 110 years in prison based on the maximum allowable punishment for each charge.