DENVER — A 29-year-old man who pleaded guilty to operating a psychedelic mushroom operation from his Denver apartment was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court.
Kole Milner was sentenced to three years probation and 25 hours of community service. He must also pay a $5,500 fine.
Milner was facing several years in federal prison after pleading guilty in September to possession with intent to distribute psilocybin mushrooms. However, Judge R. Brooke Jackson agreed with the defense’s arguments and handed down a lesser sentence.
The Denver man came under the Drug Enforcement Administration’s radar in 2019 after Milner touted his sophisticated mushroom operation through the media and was the subject of several news articles and videos related to his cultivation and sale of psilocybin mushrooms. He conducted sales under the name "Happy Fox Edibles,” prosecutors said.
On Sept. 11, 2019, DEA agents executed a search warrant on Milner’s Denver apartment unit and seized 906 live psilocybin mushrooms and 20.42 ounces of dried psilocybin mushrooms, according to court documents.
Authorities said Milner had a large climate-controlled tent, equipped with lights, fans, humidification and de-humidification devices, and other equipment to aid in the cultivation of psilocybin mushrooms. Milner began to cultivate and distribute mushrooms from his apartment in November of 2018, according to federal prosecutors.
Denver voters approved Initiative 301 in 2019, which decriminalized the use or possession of psilocybin by people 21 and older. However, psilocybin mushrooms are federally classified as an illegal drug by the DEA.