Woman Accused of Selling Cannabis to Kids Granted Bail Reduction

MURRIETA (CNS) – A young woman accused with her boyfriend of dealing marijuana to students at schools throughout the Temecula Valley was granted a bail reduction Wednesday after a judge determined that she was not a flight risk.

Catherine Ann Hickisch was arrested earlier this month along with Anthony Harry Mathisen, both 18 and of Murrieta, following a Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.

Hickisch is charged with furnishing marijuana to a child under 14 years old, as well as two counts each of distribution of controlled substances and possession of controlled substances for sale.

She pleaded not guilty during an arraignment on March 8 at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta. Her attorney submitted a motion for a bail reduction to Superior Court Judge Elaine Kiefer, who ruled Wednesday that, after considering the factors of the case and the defendant’s lack of criminal history, lowering Hickisch’s bail was justified.

The judge reset the defendant’s bail requirement from $1 million to $30,000.

Hickisch was expected to post bond Wednesday afternoon and be released from the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

She is scheduled to return to court for a felony settlement conference on April 17 — the same date that Mathisen is slated to be arraigned on charges identical to his co-defendant’s.

He was booked into the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta on March 3, but he was able to post a $1 million bond the next day, after which he was released from custody.

According to sheriff’s Sgt. Michael Perez, last month, deputies at the Southwest Station in French Valley initiated an investigation stemming from information that cannabis "was being sold to juveniles who attend middle and high schools throughout the city of Temecula and unincorporated French Valley."

Investigators determined that Hickisch and Mathisen were allegedly selling "vape pens containing concentrated cannabis to minors," Perez said.

"Furthermore, it was determined Mathisen and Hickisch distributed concentrated cannabis and psilocybin — commonly referred to as mushrooms — using a mobile delivery service, identified as `AtomicClouds,"‘ the sergeant said.

Deputies obtained and served search warrants at the defendants’ residence in the area of Madison Avenue and Murrieta Hot Springs Road, where "evidence related to the sales of marijuana and psilocybin was located and recovered," Perez said.

The pair were taken into custody without incident. Neither has prior documented felony or misdemeanor convictions in Riverside County.

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