Elementary educators arrested on prescription drug charges

There mere mention of drug dealing often conjures up visions of several people huddled together in a dark alley while passing money and drugs back and forth. For one North Carolina town, the drug deals were allegedly taking place in a manner nobody would ever have suspected.

Several arrests that were made this week on drug charges were the culmination of a four-month investigation into the matter. Those arrested included a 48-year-old doctor and his 44-year-old wife, a second-grade teacher at a local elementary school. Three other employees of the school, including two teacher assistants and a third-grade teacher, were also men arrested. More arrests were made, including an administrative assistant at a preschool facility, a teacher at a local religious academy and another female suspect who was not employed at any school.

Law enforcement officials allege that the physician wrote hundreds of prescriptions that his wife, her co-workers and her friends filled. The couple has been charged with trafficking opiates by possession. The other six who were arrested face multiple charges of drug crimes, including obtaining controlled substances by fraud and conspiracy to commit prescription fraud by forgery.

School officials took swift action. The doctor’s wife resigned her position, while two of the other school employees were suspended without pay. A spokesperson said that no child was ever put in harm’s way during this time and that the school will conduct its own investigation into the matter.

Drug charges can carry possible jail terms and fines, but they can also have an impact on people’s personal and professional lives as well. Anyone who has been charged with any type of drug crime should understand the process and what rights people have who are in this position to ensure that the process is carried out fairly.

Source: The Charlotte Observer, “8, including 3 teachers, face Rowan drug charges” Michael Gordon, Steve Lyttle and Emma Baccellieri, Jul. 09, 2014