Third-grade teacher made drug deals in class, feds say. She’s arrested at Texas school
Children could be heard in the background of a wire-tapped call as a Texas third-grade teacher negotiated a drug deal, federal officials said.
The teacher was one of 20 people indicted on narcotics and firearm trafficking charges Aug. 29, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas.
U.S. Attorney Alamdar Hamdani said elementary school teacher Jessica Ferguson was assisting with the recovery of cash and drugs, doing it on school grounds, according to a press conference posted by KHOU.
“She was on a call, taking part in that drug conspiracy while she was at school,” he said. “And you can hear the children in the background.”
Ferguson, a teacher in the Sheldon Independent School District, has been placed on administrative leave, the district said in an email to McClatchy News. School officials said the arrest did not take place in front of children.
The teacher was called into the principal’s office on Aug. 28 and arrested, according to federal officials.
Ferguson’s attorney information was not listed.
Fifteen people were charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, according to an Aug. 29 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Others are also facing illegal possession of firearms charges, officials said. Ferguson’s specific charges were not listed.
Those arrested were part of the “Rich Kingz” gang in the Houston area or working with criminal networks in the area, FBI Special Agent in Charge Doug Williams said at a news conference. The gang is believed to be responsible for a litany of crimes, including “several” killings, according to Williams.
Investigators hope to “connect the dots” on unsolved killings, Williams said. Prosecutors did not specify which deaths they believe the gang is connected to.
One of the leaders of the “Rich Kingz” gang was arrested as well, federal officials said. He is accused of distributing cocaine throughout Texas, the Midwest and the East Coast, Hamdani said.
“Drug trafficking in Houston and throughout the United States is a rampant problem that continues to take lives,” Hamdani said. “It takes lives through violence that goes hand in hand with drug trafficking. It takes lives in the depths of people who overdose using those drugs. It takes lives in the communities that are left ravaged and ruined in their wake.”
Sheldon is about a 20-mile drive northeast of Houston.
This story was originally published August 30, 2024 at 1:57 PM with the headline "Third-grade teacher made drug deals in class, feds say. She’s arrested at Texas school."
