Pubdate: Thu, 07 Sep 2000 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Copyright: 2000 San Jose Mercury News Contact: 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose, CA 95190 Fax: (408) 271-3792 Website: http://www.sjmercury.com/ Author: Bill Romano NO-CONTEST PLEA IN PARTY-DRUG DEATH Man Gave Woman GHB; She Overdosed On It A 33-year-old San Jose man pleaded no contest Wednesday to involuntary manslaughter in connection with the death of a young woman who overdosed on GHB -- a designer drug often associated with rave parties. Victor Pelayo also pleaded no contest to furnishing a controlled substance, during the brief appearance before Judge Thomas Hastings. Hastings is scheduled to sentence Pelayo on Nov. 17. Genevieve Squires, 32, died in Pelayo's home Sept. 22. Pelayo and Squires met through a mutual friend only hours before at a Los Gatos nightclub and returned to his place with another couple to party, said Deputy District Attorney Tom Farris. Scott Seabaugh, Pelayo's lawyer, said that Squires ingested the drug voluntarily and that Pelayo's culpability was ``indirect if at all.'' Pelayo told police he purchased the GHB -- also known by some on the street as liquid ``ecstasy'' -- for $100 the week before in San Francisco and was unaware Squires had taken enough to be harmful. Had he known, he would have made her purge herself, Pelayo said. ``No doubt the friends and family (of Squires) have suffered a significant loss. We have sympathy for this young lady,'' Seabaugh said. Farris said Pelayo could receive a maximum term of five years in prison. Seabaugh said he plans to request probation for his client. GHB -- sometimes called the ``date rape'' drug -- has been linked to at least 58 deaths since 1990 and more than 5,700 recorded overdoses, said the Drug Enforcement Administration. Contact Bill Romano at or (408) 295-3983. - ---