Saturday, June 9, 2007

Ex-teacher pleads guilty to possession of controlled substance

Jackie Schlotfeldt News-Bulletin Staff Writer; jschlotfeldt@news-bulletin.com

Los Lunas A former Los Lunas first-grade teacher who had been arrested in her classroom after midnight on a Sunday in March 2006 with what officers identified as methamphetamines pleaded guilty Friday to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.

Joanna Chavez, 38, of Peralta also pleaded guilty to an additional count of possession of a controlled substance stemming from an arrest on Nov. 2.

She appeared before District Judge John Pope, pleading to an agreement that leaves her facing up to four and one-half years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

Chavez was arrested in March 2006, at Valencia Elementary School shortly after midnight on a Sunday. Former Valencia County Sheriff Richard Perea said at the time of the arrest that Deputy Joseph Martinez spotted two vehicles that appeared to be blocking the entrance to the school in the early hours of the morning.

They saw a small plastic bag with a white powdery substance inside the truck, Perea said. A few minutes later, Chavez walked out of the school and asked Martinez and Sgt. John Gordon what they wanted.

"The deputies asked her about the person who owned the second vehicle; she told them that he was inside (the school)," Perea said. "She told the deputies that she was at the school grading papers."

According to the criminal complaint, Chavez took the deputies to her classroom, where they found the lights were off. Chavez opened the door and asked a man who was inside to come out.

The man, who was not charged, was taken outside and the deputies obtained permission from school officials to check the classroom. Perea said the deputies found an open purse next to the teacher's desk.

Upon investigation, the deputies found what appeared to be a white powdery substance in several baggies inside Chavez's purse. They also found a digital scale, several butane lighters, a personal checkbook and a ledger of moneys.

Since Chavez's arrest in March, she has been terminated from her teaching position with the Los Lunas School District.

Chavez was arrested a second time a little past 2 a.m. on Nov. 2 and charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia and bringing contraband into a place of imprisonment. The paraphernalia and contraband charges were dismissed.

Chavez was walking out of a car wash bay located on Los Lentes Road in Los Lunas and told officers she was drying a vehicle. According to the report, as Chavez was being interviewed by Los Lunas Police Officer Heather Killingsworth, another officer searched the car belonging to a man Chavez was with and a clear plastic purse containing a pipe was found.

Chavez told the officers the purse was her make-up bag.

In searching her purse when she was in custody, a second glass pipe, several clear plastic baggies and another baggie with a white crystal-like substance was found which later tested positive as methamephetamines, the officers said.

Deputy District Attorney Ron Lopez said the case had been scheduled to go to trial next week. He said the two counts were combined, and there is no sentencing agreement between the parties, except that the sentences shall run consecutively.

A pre-sentencing report will be submitted before Chavez is sentenced next month, Lopez said.

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