Shroom House Owner “Didn’t Know Anything About Any Illegal Mushroom Sales,” Attorney Says

Two men accused of running an unlawful psychedelic mushroom storefront on West Burnside Street appeared in court this afternoon. They believed the business was legal, their attorneys said.

“He said he didn’t know anything about any illegal mushroom sales,” said Leland Berger, attorney for the shop’s alleged owner, Steven Tachie Jr., 32.

His business, Shroom House, was raided by police in the middle of the night Thursday. Four men were arrested, including Tachie and the man said to be the shop’s manager, Jeremiahs Geronimo, 42.

“Based on the government’s allegations, [they] thought what they were doing was lawful,” said Geronimo’s public defender.

Bail for both men was set at $1.5 million. Tachie, a Canadian citizen, was ordered to surrender his passport. The former rapper is now living in Portland in an Airbnb.

Berger requested $50,000 bail, but was refused.

“Even if these allegations are true...it’s not a crime that harmed anyone in the community,” the attorney said. “There haven’t been any stories about people who bought psilocybin from the store getting sick or doing anything crazy.”

Regardless, Berger argued, Tachie had no knowledge of the illegal sales.

“The store sold supplements that were like Vitamin C,” he said. “To the extent there were sales of psychoactive mushrooms, it wasn’t to this defendant’s knowledge.”

Prosecutors pointed out that the business was taking in “massive amounts of cash” and displayed an “abject disregard for the law.”

A menu inside the store listed over a half-dozen strains of psychedelic mushrooms for sale.

Yesterday, the two men were charged with money laundering and manufacturing or delivering a Schedule I controlled substance near a school.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed this afternoon, police had been keeping tabs on the shop for a week. On Dec. 7, two cops “entered the store and bought over 30 grams of psilocybin mushrooms.” The mushrooms “presumptively tested positive to containing psilocybin.”

Officers with the Portland Police Bureau’s Narcotics and Organized Crime Unit seized over 22 pounds of psilocybin during the early Thursday morning raid. Tachie was arrested while driving to CVS to pick up some Tylenol for his 2-year-old son, according to Berger.

Geronimo, who a WW reporter heard referred to as “Jay” while discussing products with customers in the shop, managed the business, his attorney said.

He worked as a videographer and shot one of Tachie’s music videos, according to a now-private Instagram message viewed by WW. He was hired to help with social media, according to a former employee. He told police he’d worked there since it opened.

The employee was not impressed by Geronimo’s psilocybin expertise. “He didn’t know anything about mushrooms,” that employee said.

Geronimo’s family is in Texas and he came to Portland to work at Shroom House, his attorney said. He was a “lower-level employee” and earned less than $1,500 per month.

Shroom House accepted credit cards when it opened in late October, a former employee said. But by the time its existence was widely reported in the media in early December, business was cash only. Police observed Geronimo transferring money to and from the shop’s ATM and the cash register.

Customers were required to submit two forms of identification, including a driver’s license. The Portland Police Bureau said it seized “records related to the illicit business,” but declined to specify whether this included a customer list.