USC Students Indicted on LSD Charges
A federal grand jury indicted two USC students Thursday on charges of selling 11,500 dosages of the hallucinogenic drug LSD to undercover narcotics agents.
The nine-count indictment accuses seniors Hugh McLetchie and Rita Wadhwani, both 21, of distributing some of the drugs near a school playground, which could result in a stiffer punishment if they are convicted.
McLetchie, a drama major from Walpole, Mass., allegedly admitted after his arrest Sept. 2 that he sold LSD-laced snow cones to teenagers at an all-night rave concert in Angeles National Forest last month.
While negotiating a purchase at McLetchie’s Pasadena apartment, undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agents said, they taped him boasting of having sold the snow cones to five teenagers who later died when their car plunged over a cliff as they left the rave party.
McLetchie has not been charged in their deaths. Local authorities are still trying to determine the cause of the crash and whether the victims were under the influence of drugs.
Wadhwani, a literature major from Chicago, was described in the indictment as McLetchie’s partner. A warrant was issued for her arrest.
According to the indictment, McLetchie would get the LSD from a supplier, and he and Wadhwani would sell it, sharing the proceeds.
The DEA said it has been investigating the sale of LSD by USC students since January.
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